Plans to develop an upmarket golf and residential estate in Caledon could soon come to fruition. The multi-million Rand development, a venture by Tsogo Sun Holdings – the holding company of Southern Africa’s largest hotel group, Southern Sun and leading casino and entertainment group, Tsogo Sun Gaming – is currently in the final stages of approval with the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Construction of the estate, to be called The Blue Crane Signature Golf Estate, will commence only once the official go-ahead from the department is received. The area earmarked for the development is 160 hectare of land adjacent to the casino property.

Tsogo Sun Holdings, which owns The Caledon Casino, Hotel & Spa, is facilitating and also investing in the development as part of its commitment to further developing the Caledon town. Once completed it will comprise of a premium, 18-hole signature golf course, 189 luxury timeshare-based lodges and 336 residential properties. The golf course and clubhouse will be designed by Golfdata, who have been involved in various golf estate developments, including St Francis Links, Pearl Valley and Simola.

According to The Blue Crane Signature Golf Estate’s Rudi Coetzee, who is extensively involved with the project, the Golf Estate will positively impact the local economy through driving tourism to the area, by attracting new residential investors, and extensive job creation.

“Property on golf estates is highly desirable as more and more South Africans aspire for that great mix of tranquillity, security, outdoor activity, sense of community and leisure facilities that living on a golf estate provides. The estate is also ideally located adjacent to the casino resort, on the N2 in close proximity to the Cape Town Metropole and Hermanus.”

“The Blue Crane Signature Golf Estate will offer a premium lifestyle to private homeowners, while at the same time delivering an exclusive leisure experience for holidaymakers and golf tourists. Preliminary estimates are that the upmarket golf course will attract in excess of 35 000 rounds of golf annually, and the lodges, based on a timeshare concept, will draw about 9500 families to Caledon each year,” he says.

While the estate is still “on the drawing board”, Coetzee says future plans include expanding the development opportunities in the surrounding area to accommodate a further 100 residential properties and possibly a retail component.

For more information please call Rudi Coetzee on 028-2145100 or e-mail rudic@tsogosun.com