Menlyn Maine - South Africa's first green city

An exciting new development will see Menlyn in Pretoria develop and construct what South Africa is calling the first ever “Green City” in the entire country. The project is called Menlyn Maine and its set to transform the already established and affluent area into a world-class suburb where sustainability is at the forefront of development.

Some of the features include 140,000m2 of Commercial office space, 35,000m2 of trading, restaurants, and shops. Virgin Active will also be building a 4000m2 gym. This is not to mention 85,000m2 of high-end residential apartments, 18,000m2 of space is being allocated to a luxurious hotel. 60 000m2 will be dedicated to an entertainment area which will be titled the Time Square Urban Entertainment Complex and lastly, 5,700m2 will be dedicated to scenic parks.

“The design of the entire precinct is based on new urbanism principles. These days, part of creating a successful urban design necessarily includes an approach which takes the quality of the surrounding environment into consideration. Keeping with New Urbanist ideals of creating walkable, livable mixed-use environments, Menlyn Maine is aiming to obtain a LEED Neighborhood Design certification for its urban space design”. - http://www.menlynmaine.co.za/about.htm

LEED is an acronym for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” and is commonly regarded as the world’s most utilized green rated system for various initiatives such as developments such as Menlyn Maine as well as other premises who wish to obtain a Green Star Rating including community developments, commercial, and industrial locations as well as home-based green rated projects include home developments as well. LEED operates in 165 countries worldwide and runs off a point system. For a project to become certified it will need to score 40-49 points. If I project scores 50-59 points it means it will be awarded a silver rating. To obtain a gold rating one needs to score 60 to 79 points and a platinum rating one needs to score over 80 points. There are various LEED projects all over the world in various urban epicenters some of the locations that have completed successful sustainable projects include Los Angeles, Barcelona, Guadalajara, Athens and Mexico City.

A leading commercial property brokerage OfficePlace have sighted Menlyn as a great place in which to invest and believe that initiatives such as this only help in raising the profile of not just the province and city but the entire country. OfficePlace has 42 listed properties available for rental in the Menlyn area and this is a clear indication of the demand for commercial spaces around greater Pretoria. Menlyn represents a slicker, sleeker office space market where innovation, sophistication, and sustainability is a priority to ensure potential investors feel that they are not only investing in great properties but the future of the environment. As urban areas grow so does the impact on resources within these spaces. Water is a huge issue in many urban and rural areas around South Africa and projects such as this help in creating awareness about these pertinent issues.

The head offices for this project are situated at Pegasus 1 Building, 3rd Floor, Cnr January Masilela Avenue & Amarand Avenue, Waterkloof Glen. And is a joint initiative between the Green Building Council of South Africa and the Climate Positive Development Program. Menlyn Maine has been operational since the 15^th of March 2017.

As populations increase and resources deplete Menlyn Maine and other building developments in a similar vein are leading the way. If climate change carries on increasing and certain good practices aren’t implemented we will slowly have to invest in the environment just as we invest in commerce and industry. Why not make the change towards good environmental practices today? Get in contact with a broker from OfficePlace and start your commercial office adventure at Menlyn Maine.