From a dirt road to the prime address of Hillcrest
Category Residential Property News
Once the ugly duckling of Hillcrest, Inanda Road is not only looking increasingly like a swan, but it’s become the golden mile drawing Hillcrest and Waterfall together.
Anybody who lives in Gauteng will agree, Johannesburg and Pretoria, once two separate and distant entities with distinctly different identities, are moving closer and closer; in a similar vein, so too, the burgeoning suburbs of Hillcrest and Waterfall in the Upper Highway. As five star development along Inanda Road continues unabated, memories have dimmed of the never-ending construction and infrastructure upgrades, as it becomes Hillcrest’s golden highway. Top-notch gated estates, little and large, golfing and equestrian, are dotted along the length of Inanda Road, and this stretch has become the heart of the region.
Today, living along Inanda Road - whether you’re happily retired at Le Domaine, or raising a family in Cotswold Downs – you have fewer and fewer reasons to travel beyond the suburb. Following the strong global trend of living close to where you work and play, residents here are able to work, shop and, now, with the new mega Watercrest Mall open for business, go to the movies too.
Anchored by a full Woolworths, Edgars, Super Spar, Checkers, Game and Dischem, the glamorous 44, 000 sqm Watercrest Mall (with future expansion plans for 20 000sqm) boasts a diverse and upmarket tenant mix that includes most of the big national players, some unique line store offerings, a food court and Ster Kinekor with 6 theatres. Already full let, the mall was built at a capital cost of some R700 million, and encompassing over 120 retail stores, has already created a few thousand new jobs. Its high end, one stop retail ofering is expected to plug the leak of shoppers from the area and to meet the needs of the LSM 9 - 10 plus shoppers from catchment areas.
Top government and private schools like Highbury, Kearsney and St Mary’s are all within easy reach of Hillcrest, and as a sign of increasing demand in the area, the co-ed Curro Hillcrest Christian Academy will be extending their current mandate of Grade 000 to Grade 10 into Grade 11 next year.
As happens so often, when upmarket developments make their mark on an area, the address soon becomes sought after. Inanda Road is a great example of that. The range of secure residential gated estates all offer one or more of the plusses of living out in the country, whether it’s wonderful green vistas, dams, paddocks, golf courses, walkways, or simply room to breathe. So if you’re into sport, horses, birding, hiking, this is the stretch for you to put down roots. And although the estates are all top notch, there are units and homes to suit everybody, from entry level to luxurious family homes on big stands, to compact or spacious retirement apartments.
Take a drive along the new Inanda Road. It’ll have the right home for you at the right time...whatever stage of life you’re at.
Author: Anne Schauffer
