City

Cape Town's new skyscraper

11 Mar, 2012

The construction of Cape Town’s newest skyscraper, which began last August, is due for completion in March 2014.

The 32-storey, 148-m high tower is called the Portside and will be located opposite the entrance to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town’s financial district.

The building was designed jointly by local firms DHK and Louis Karol Architects to represent a "city in the sky", and the R1.6-billion contract was awarded to long-established local construction company Murray & Roberts.

The project is a joint development between South African financial services companies Old Mutual and FirstRand.

It will house the provincial headquarters of FirstRand's three divisions, FNB, Rand Merchant Bank and vehicle financier WesBank, with 25,000m of corporate and retail space to be leased to tenants by Old Mutual Property.

The Portside will be Cape Town’s first new skyscraper since the 123-m high Safmarine House was built in 1993.