New R3.2bn Akademia campus boosts property demand east of Pretoria
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Akademia's R3.2 billion campus under construction east of Pretoria is lifting the surrounding property market, with agents reporting surging land prices and rising interest in student accommodation.
The new Akademia campus under construction east of Pretoria at a cost of R3.2 billion is providing a major boost to the surrounding property market, according to property experts interviewed by Moneyweb.
Akademia, an Afrikaans higher education institution linked to the Solidarity movement, has operated from different sites in Centurion for several years. Henk Schalekamp, managing director of Kanton Beleggings, the Solidarity movement's property company developing the campus, said the first phase, costing R1.8 billion, is expected to be completed by October 2027 and open to students in January 2028. A second phase due by 2030 will add two residences, a lecture block, an auditorium and a chapel.
The campus is about 7km from the intersection of Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Lynnwood Road, close to Kitty Hawk airport and the upmarket Waterlake residential estate. Schalekamp said a developer has bought land at the entrance to the campus for a residential project and other private student accommodation projects are being planned, while about 400 staff members will work on site.
Joop Coetzee, an estate agent with RainMaker Agri operating in the eastern parts of Pretoria for 25 years, said sellers' expectations have climbed sharply. "People are now asking R1 million per hectare for vacant land, whereas a 4.2 hectare smallholding with two houses until recently would have fetched between R3.5 million and R4 million," he said. He receives calls daily from people seeking land for student accommodation, but cautioned that Akademia is building its own residences and that property development requires substantial capital and time.
Coetzee also warned that properties rezoned for high-density development by the former Kungwini local municipality, which was absorbed into the City of Tshwane in 2011, could lose those rights: the city has decided that Kungwini rezoning approvals not proclaimed by the end of March 2027 will revert to agricultural land.
Ben Espach, director of valuations at Rates Watch, said the development will have a major impact on the surrounding area, pointing to the demand created by students for everything from accommodation to retail. Schalekamp cited Potchefstroom and Stellenbosch as examples of densification around campuses, but said the market around Akademia is currently overheated, noting that a four-hectare smallholding is on the market for R12 million.