SA Affordable Housing November - December 2018 // Issue: 73 | Page 12

NEWS
Divercity fund offers
social benefits
Divercity Urban Property Fund is a newly-launched
investment fund that is set to renew and re-energise the
country’s urban centres.
B
and Turbine Hall, and the iconic Pan Africa Mall in Alexandra
coupled with 4 500 residential properties from the Ithemba
stable. Divercity has also acquired some of the best
properties in Maboneng from Propertuity and it also owns
Sterland Mall in Pretoria.
These assets anchor the precincts in which Divercity has
initially targeted its investment. In Johannesburg, its
investment corridors span from Maboneng to the Newtown
area around Turbine Hall and Newtown Junction Mall, and the
Alexandra node surrounding Pan Africa Mall.
Divercity is, as a founding principle, committed to
transformation. From its inception, a significant amount of
equity already vests in black hands and, as it grows, it intends
to further diversify its shareholder base to be available to all
South Africans. In addition, by investing in well-located
affordable housing in amenity-rich neighbourhoods,
Divercity is also committed to the spatial transformation of
South Africa’s cities.
acked by the experience of some of South Africa’s
leading property specialists and with a R2-billion seed
portfolio of landmark property assets, the names
behind Divercity include some of the most experienced and
respected property investors and developers in the country.
Divercity’s major shareholders and stakeholders are Atterbury
and Ithemba Property, with Talis Property Fund playing major
part in forming the fund. Cornerstone investors are RMH
Property and Nedbank Property Partners, which is subject to
regulatory approval which is expected by the end of July.
As the fund’s name suggests, Divercity invests in South
Africa’s major cities. It’s investment strategy, however, is
even more precise; it focuses on pre-identified precincts or
corridors within these cities, rather than on individual
properties. The fund already has assets of R2-biilion. Its
initial portfolio includes strategic buildings hand-picked
from Atterbury’s, Ithemba’s and Talis’s portfolios, including
Johannesburg landmarks Newtown Junction Mall, Talis House
From left are: Wouter de Vos CEO, Atterbury Property Fund; Rian Reyneke CEO, Ithemba; Tebogo
Mogashoa, group chairman, Talis Property Fund; and Carel Kleynhans, executive director, Ithemba.
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NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2018
www.SAAffordableHousing.co.za