Pretoria is birthing a new living space that will echo upmarket Sandton.
Prestigious Menlo Park used to be renowned as a conservative, middle-class, family-oriented suburb where professional couples with young children moved to be near top schools and the University of Pretoria. However, the expansion that has occurred in recent years has had a positive impact on the real estate prices in Menlo Park and surrounding areas.
The luxury homes being built are attracting a new generation of residents and thus bringing a new social culture to the suburb. This is due to many young professionals, single parents with degrees and a reasonable increase of students living in Hatfield migrating to the area
says Ronella Joubert, property consultant: Harcourts Capital.
This fresh cultural energy is making the small suburb even more popular. The landscape will also change drastically within the next year, thanks to the approval of 35 residential rezoning applications. They include low-, medium- and high-density residential developments. A further 20 new applications have been submitted to the city council for approval.
In the past 12 months the average home price in Menlo Park and its surrounding areas has increased from R1,8m to R2,5m
says Joubert. She adds that buyers who used to average between R40,000 and R50,000 a month on average now have to earn between R60,000 and R80,000 to live in the area.
“Menlo Park serves as the ideal area to achieve the outcomes of the Menlyn node spatial development framework, because the infrastructure of shops, schools, parks, public transport and recreation facilities already exist,” says Joubert. The development is intended to relieve pressure by providing thousands of employment opportunities in the Menlyn Maine area and to address the lack of housing around the university. With all the emerging modern developments, Menlo Park will soon have a beautiful new face to go with its buoyant property market.
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
