Apartments are selling well in The Silos, in Newtown, with work set to begin in January next year.

FIVE brightly coloured shapes will rise from Newtown in the next year - and you can have some of it if you hurry and buy one of the apartments in The Silos.

There are only 18 units left, says Paul Seggie, one of the developers of the 10 soaring silos just off Quinn Street.

The furnished studio or bachelor flat, with slick, hard-wearing finishes

In November 2007, Seggie was planning to turn those lustrous round shapes into 19 apartments, ranging in size from 85m² at R800 000 to 200m² at R2,5-million. Now, almost two years later, he's planning to build 99 apartments, ranging from the smallest units at 23,5m² going for R229 995, to 10 penthouses at 47m² costing R649 995.

"They all have good finishes, with hardwearing granite tops and screeded floors," says Seggie.  All units are fully furnished.

Besides the 10 penthouses, on two levels, The Silos will consist of nine two-bedroom apartments, and 80 studio or bachelor flats. On the east side, they will have views of the city from the fourth floor, and on the west side, views will begin from the third floor.

When Seggie was ready to go to market almost two years ago the economy was suddenly hit by a rise in the repo rate. This led to banks changing their lending rules. Whereas previously bonds of up to 100 percent were available, by the end of February 2008 lenders had to put down a 10 percent deposit.

And where Seggie had several people interested in his apartments in 2008, those deals fell through with the new bond requirements.

Re-think
He had to re-think everything. So he got himself a new partner, Curtis Howells, also a property developer and marketer; he ditched his previous architectural plans; and started again from scratch.

The Silos now, where construction will start in early January

Now he's come to market with a new deal: buyers have to put down R10 000, which is put into a trust account, while they apply for a bond. Once the bond has been approved, the apartment belongs to the buyer.

"We have sold sufficient units," adds Seggie. This means that the construction team will be on site on 2 January 2010, and will hand over the keys to prospective owners on 16 December 2010.

Two years ago the cost of building was R8 000 per square metre; Seggie has managed to keep the cost at more or less the same rate, at R8 500 a square metre, rising to R11 000 a square metre for the penthouses. By comparison, flats in Braamfontein go at R11 200 a square metre.

Target market
Seggie sees the target market for rental as students - and he has catered for them, transport wise. A minibus will run between Newtown, the universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg, and Campus Square throughout the day.

Facilities will include a coffee shop, a laundry, 24-hour security, CCTV cameras and boomed access to the street. Parking is only available for the penthouses, but there will be plenty of on-street parking each evening.

Seggie guarantees that each unit will be noise proof. He is constructing each 2,6m roof with a mix of concrete and polystyrene.

Once complete, The Silos will complement another residential block, The Mills, just around the corner. It was previously an office block.

Seggie has been involved in other conversions - The Refinery lofts in Milpark, formerly a set of factory buildings, and converting a building in Braamfontein to office space. At present he is a contract manager for a construction company.

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