Construction of the 800 square metre four-floor office block is due to start in August 2005.  “We have decided to operate within the IDZ to demonstrate our confidence in the development of the zone,” says CDC spokesperson Vuyelwa Qinga-Vika.

The corporation has also outgrown the present offices, which are no longer suitable for the business.

The CDC is presently housed in rented offices near the on-ramp for the main highway leading from Port Elizabeth to Coega. “The estimated cost for the new offices is R70-million, and I believe that this is a cost effective option because currently we are renting the Humerail offices, and have been doing so for the past five years,” says Ms Qinga-Vika.

It will be the second permanent complex in the Coega IDZ. The first was the Coega recruitment centre, which provides offices for the Coega Labour and Business Management Services (LBMS) and offices for unions represented on site, as well as facilities for recruiting, testing and inducting Coega workers.

Care has been taken with the design of the first office block, which has a modern feel.  “We are trying to set an example of high quality facilities that we would like to see developed within the zone,” she says.

Half of the space will be occupied by the Coega Development Corporation, with the remainder of the offices being leased to tenants in the Coega IDZ.

The office block will be built near the entrance to the port of Ngqurha and close to the N2 national road. It is in close proximity to the first areas expected to be occupied in the first 6 500 hectare core development area of the Coega IDZ. The full extent of the zone is 11 500 hectares with development taking place in phases according to clusters of industries.
 
Roads around the office building space are currently under construction, and bulk services have been supplied to the site.

Occupation of the offices is planned for January, 2007, “along with the first tenants of the IDZ, who will need the offices by then,” she says.

The CDC expects the building of the offices to stimulate further development within the IDZ area. An advertisement has gone out inviting property developers and institutions to submit tenders for the development of both commercial and industrial land within the Coega IDZ.

“The Nelson Mandela Metro, where the Coega Project is situated, is the only major metro in the country with high-quality industrial and commercial land that is just a 10 to 15-minute drive from the main residential areas. That, coupled with the deep-water port of Ngqurha, makes Coega a preferred investment destination,” says Qinga-Vika.

The CDC is at various stages of negotiations with about 60 potential investors many of whom are foreign with projects which include high-end textiles, metallurgical, metals, automotives, logistics and energy sectors. The status of these discussions vary from pre-feasibility, feasibility, negotiations to site engineering stages.