Is a mixed use urban development that is built around a series of squares, parks and boulevards surrounding: Gateway Theatre of Shopping Is a place where people live, work, shop and play. A medium-rise human-friendly environment which will revolutionise the way people see living in cities. Is conveniently placed on a ridge above the beaches of Umhlanga and La Lucia in the Northern Metropolitan area. Facilities in the areas include the: Umhlanga Hospital and Medical Centre Virgin Active SA Health Clubs La Lucia Crawford College. Millenium Bridge Business Park La Lucia Ridge Office Estate The use of mini green-belts throughout the whole area will naturally soften and enhance this attractive environment.

Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre is earmarked for “stylish apartment-style living” to quote Moreland Developments and is set to become the “Jewel of the North”.

Building on a vision

“Located on the Ridge overlooking Durban’s up market northern suburbs, Moreland’s commercial developments, the La Lucia Ridge Office Estate and the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre, offer a truly integrated lifestyle, where work, entertainment and social life blend seamlessly into each other.

A place for people.

The Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre is an urban environment of wide, tree-lined boulevards, landscaped office parks and piazzas. Built on a planned grid, the New Town Centre is connected by a series of pedestrian-friendly roads, parks and public spaces, which are laid out to facilitate on-street parking and the easy flow of traffic. The development is planned on a human scale, with a vibrant, active mix of uses, including retail, residential and commercial. The New Town Centre is changing the way people work. The way they play. “The way they live their lives.”

The future of urban development

“Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre, Moreland’s visionary mixed use urban development is built around a series of squares, parks and boulevards surrounding Gateway Theatre of Shopping. It is a place where people live, work, shop and play, a medium-rise human-friendly environment which will revolutionise the way people see living in cities.”

Highly effective urban living

“The New Town Centre offers a unique mix of high street and mall shopping. It encapsulates Old Mutual’s extraordinary Gateway Theatre of Shopping (R1.4billion), which attracts an estimated 24 million visitors each year. Facilities in the areas include the Umhlanga Hospital and Medical Centre, Virgin Active SA Health clubs and highly respected schools such as La Lucia Crawford College. Moreland has provided an infrastructure and management model that establishes Umhlanga Ridge as South Africa’s most modern and globally competitive working environment. Umhlanga Ridge owners all become members of the management association, which employs professionals to implement a state-of-the-art security system as well as cleaning and landscaping services. A 21st century communications network makes the New Town Centre a leader in the information-driven New Economy, connecting individuals and businesses effortlessly to each other and the global marketplace.”

A place for people

Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre offers a truly integrated lifestyle, a place where work, entertainment and social life blend seamlessly into each other in a secure environment which has been designed with people in mind, and will offer exceptional quality of life.

It will be a pace of wide, tree-lined boulevards, traffic circles and piazzas. Street level cafes and restaurants become meeting places for the people working in the offices above.

Shoppers are attracted by world-class boutiques and galleries, and the largest shopping and entertainment centre in Africa. In the commercial district, banks and finance houses lead local business into the new global economy. Loft apartments overlook tranquil parks and shaded sidewalks where children ride bicycles. The New Town Centre will change the way people work. The way they play. The way they live their lives.”

“The Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre lies on a ridge above the beaches of Umhlanga and La Lucia in the Northern Metropolitan area. The hub of the largest undertaking of its kind in Africa, the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre represents the apex of several highly successful land development projects. With easy access to the N1 and M41 freeways, Durban’s International Airport and Africa’s largest port are a few minutes drive away. The neighboring La Lucia Ridge Office Estate boats many of South Africa’s most distinguished blue-chip companies, including Unilever, Deloitte & Touche, Alexander Forbes and Ernst & Young. Crawford College is one of the highly regarded schools, amongst the numerous places of worship and community centres on the Ridge. The town centre features The Gateway Theatre of Shopping, The Crescent Shopping Centre and Umhlanga Hospital, with City Lodge’s flagship hotel recently completed. The new motoring prescient features every leading dealership and the associated motoring services. From the prestigious golf estates of Mount Edgecombe and Zimbali to the surrounding suburbs of La Lucia Ridge and Somerset Park, the town centre allows for a lifestyle tailored to your dreams.

The Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre is changing the way people do business, the way people live life.

“Just 20 minutes from Durban, the Town Centre enjoys access via a network of 5 major roads, with Durban International Airport an easy 25 minute drive away. Umhlanga Ridge is surrounded by some of the finest residential developments in South Africa, from suburbs like La Lucia and the resort town of Umhlanga Rocks to prestigious golf estates like Mount Edgecombe and Zimbali.

With 750 000m2 of development rights, the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre builds on success of La Lucia Ridge Office Estate with its 200 000m2 of rights. Already, most of Durban’s blue-chip and multinational companies operate from the area. More are planning or building their facilities. The business environment of the Commercial Ridge, as it has become known, could hardly be more advantageous to tenants.

A green city

“La Lucia Office Estate is widely regarded for its secure park-like surroundings and for the reinstatement of the natural coastal forest. Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre expands on this approach to development, actually enhancing the environment of the area where possible. The connected series of open spaces, with their water features and indigenous trees and shrubs form a “green lung”, making the Town Centre a pleasantly scenic and healthy urban environment. The area is richly provided with outdoor leisure activities, and is only minutes away from the pristine beaches of Umhlanga Rocks.”

It’s happening!

“Day by day Moreland’s vision of a New Town Centre is becoming a reality. This vision combines the best of city, town and village to create a safe attractive environment where South Africans can live, work and play.The idea is simple.Everything is on tap – shopping malls, theatres, schools, businesses large and small, residential areas, parks and playgrounds – all within walking distance of Umhlanga’s golden beaches.

By constructing a city-suburb of exclusive low rise apartment blocks and integrating it with world-class working, shopping and entertainment opportunities, we’re creating a whole new urban lifestyle. It’s a place where you’ll feel right at home with the buzz, energy and excitement of the big city and safety and security you enjoyed growing up in a village community when you were a child. This is the way life should be lived!”

Security is a Priority!

Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre enjoys the added benefit of having its very own private security company. Their state of the art security centre provides you with constant surveillance 24/7.

This is Moreland’s revolutionary new mixed-use development where residential and business co-exist in harmony and everything is on tap – shopping malls, theatres, hotels schools and colleges, businesses large and small, residential areas, parks and playgrounds.

By constructing a city suburb of exclusive low-rise apartment blocks and integrating it with world-class working, shopping and entertainment opportunities, Moreland is creating a whole new urban lifestyle.
Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre boasts easy access to the adjoining motorways and Durban’s International Airport and Port.
Already, the headquarters of distinguished blue-chip companies are located on the Ridge and opportunities for large businesses and small concerns are limitless.

This innovative joint venture between Moreland and the local Durban Municipality offers retail, office development, high-tech, light industries and warehousing opportunities on 160 hectares of prime industrial property. Well serviced by link roads, River Horse is the most easily accessible industrial node in the region with over to hectares of land currently under construction to house a range of logistics, light and high-tech industrial and destination retail uses. Future plans include the development of a medical park and hospital. Taking its cue from South Africa’s leading environmental practices, Moreland has taken a holistic view of the environment, driven by a desire to recreate esthetic beauty in the area. Working with environmental groups, Moreland is reintroducing Hippopotami into the Umhlangane River running the development and construction viewing platforms accessible to the public

(Extracts from various Morelands Developments Brochures)




Moreland Launches the Second Phase of Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre:

A DECADE after instigating South Africa’s single largest mixed-use expansion, property group Moreland Development has brought to the market the second phase of the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre.

In releasing the 50 hectare site north of the multi-billion-rand Gateway shopping complex, the Tongaat-Hulett Group property arm has facilitated the development of more than 1-million square metres. The development, stretching across the Umhlanga Ridge, Gateway and the office park developments, has created the country’s largest mixed-use district.

Since the mid-1990s when Moreland began unlocking value from its former sugarcane lands, the company has been the economic catalyst for around R10bn worth of new development north of the Durban central business district. The area has been recognised as the fastest-growing property development sector in the country.
Phase two on the land between Gateway and the suburb of Prestondale brings on-stream Parkside, an upmarket residential and commercial mixed zone comprising four and six-storey buildings that architecturally combine glass and stone.

“In launching the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre, Moreland introduced the concept of new urbanism to the Ridge that has brought to the market an attractive, safe environment where people can live, work, play, learn and pray together by encompassing the piazza-style living,” Moreland commercial and industrial development director Mike Deighton said.

Anchoring the development as a green belt will be the 2ha Chris Saunders Park, honouring the former Tongaat-Hulett chairman. The park will be a focal destination with water features, ponds, shrubbery and lawns, offering residents and visitors a sanctuary within the urban landscape.
The park forms part of the group’s larger-scale commitment to environmental issues after Moreland received the internationally-acclaimed ISO 14000 environmental management system accreditation last November.
The system demonstrates how the environmental issues and sensitivities are integrated into Moreland’s business ethos, identifying areas where the company may affect the environment and establishing controls for environmental performance.

The ISO 14000 certification provides an effective environmental management system integrated into the existing systems to create a philosophy of environmental sustainable sensitivity.
As an internationally-recognised certification, it incorporates good practice as a normal part of development, demonstrating an ethos and commitment.

Linked to the environmental ethos is a joint initiative between Moreland, Unilever and the Wildlands Conservation Trust. The Trees for Life programme aims to boost economic livelihoods among rural communities, encouraging the planting of indigenous seedlings for new corporate developments and community greening exercises.
Deighton said the park would utilise the Trees for Life programme by acquiring indigenous trees for the green belt.

(Extracts from various Morelands Developments Brochures)