Leading real estate investment trust (Reit) Attacq says its precinct-scale development model has enabled sustained infrastructure rollout across Waterfall City, differentiating it from traditional property funds.
Attacq said it is continuing to deploy significant capital into the node in Midrand, Gauteng, including about R1bn in ongoing infrastructure investment, alongside retail, logistics and hospitality developments across Waterfall City.
The JSE-listed trust secured development rights to Waterfall City in 2008 and has since expanded its position in the precinct, including full ownership of the Mall of Africa in 2024 and a R2.7bn transaction in 2023 in which the Government Employees Pension Fund acquired a 30% stake in its Waterfall investment vehicle.
“If you can control and manage a precinct, it allows you to have significant and positive influence on the environment, which allows you to create pockets of excellence,” said David Oosthuizen, development executive at Attacq. “We’re trying to create an environment that represents a world-class space for people to live, work and play.”
Oosthuizen said infrastructure spending in Waterfall City formed part of a long-term approach to developing and strengthening the node over time. He said the precinct model enabled improved co-ordination of infrastructure, transport links and amenities across developments in ways that would be difficult under more fragmented ownership structures.
The approach has also been extended beyond Waterfall City, with the model applied across assets in George, Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Potchefstroom.
He said Waterfall City initially developed as a large-scale estate, beginning with residential estates in the western parts of the precinct, before gradually expanding eastwards into retail and commercial development as activity in the node increased in recent years.
“To get people walking, you need to start by densifying the city as well as establishing and activating places through placemaking principles,” Oosthuizen said, adding that residential development had to come first before retail and supporting amenities could follow.
Oosthuizen pointed to The Pantry by Marble as an upcoming addition to Waterfall City, describing it as the group’s first major street-level retail activation in the node, due to open towards the end of 2026 near the Mall of Africa precinct.
He said it costs more than R50m to establish a restaurant on the street, highlighting the scale of investment required for such activations.
Developments such as The Pantry formed part of a broader “placemaking” strategy aimed at encouraging movement within the precinct, he said, alongside future additions such as markets and sports facilities.
Attacq has also partnered with Rabie Property Group on a R750m Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel development, which will add further hospitality and events capacity to the node and is intended to support surrounding office developments.
Oosthuizen said Attacq’s retail strategy had increasingly focused on dominant assets rather than smaller centres, arguing that larger malls remained better positioned to sustain footfall under pressure from online shopping, while smaller centres were more exposed. This approach also influenced the group’s logistics portfolio, with occupiers increasingly seeking locations closer to urban amenities and improved infrastructure.
Waterfall City Junction, where construction broke ground in November last year, was cited as a key example of this logistics strategy. The precinct forms part of Attacq’s broader development pipeline aimed at improving connectivity and operational efficiency within Waterfall City.
Located within the greater Waterfall City node, the development is positioned close to Sandton and offers direct access to major transport routes, including the N1 and key arterial roads, reinforcing its role as a long-term logistics growth driver. Oosthuizen said occupier requirements were increasingly focused onoperational performance, including resilience and cost efficiency.
“Sustainability is a buzzword. What clients are looking for is efficiencies,”Oosthuizen said, adding that occupiers were focused on outcomes such assolar savings, water resilience and lower operating costs alongside formalstandards.
Oosthuizen noted that Attacq focuses on measurable efficiency gains acrossits developments rather than compliance-driven sustainability labels,emphasising practical operational value and cost savings for occupiers.
He said clients had experienced a five-day power outage without disruptiondue to backup systems in place across the precinct.
Oosthuizen said the group has also scaled its water and energy resilienceinfrastructure, including 1.3MWp of rooftop solar and 1.3Ml of water backupcapacity, alongside broader rollouts of black and grey water systems whereviable.
He added that the precinct model enabled infrastructure to be delivered moreefficiently across multiple assets rather than on a building-by-building basis.
“When you’re managing a precinct on a large scale, you can roll infrastructureout in a macro point of view rather than an insular point of view,” he said,adding that this is one of Attacq’s key differentiators.
Original source: Business Day