Atterbury is developing a new 24 000m2 distribution centre for Takealot in Richmond Park, Milnerton, Cape Town with South Africa’s largest online retailer operating from its new premises from the 1st of August 2022.
Construction of the 24 000m2 facility, consisting of 22 000m2 warehouse space and 2 000m2 office space, has already commenced. The facility has been designed to provide Takealot with expansion options to add an additional 50 000m2 of warehousing to the initial phase, which would increase its size to more than 70 000m2.
Designed for sustainability, Takealot’s new distribution centre will feature a dedicated solar PV installation, energy efficient lighting systems, rainwater harvesting, and water-saving xeriscape landscaping. The cross-dock facility will provide a clear racking height of up to 18 metres with specialised floors.
Takealot’s Customer Collection Centre of 6 700m2, which includes expansion opportunities with the potential to grow to 17 000m2, is also under construction at Richmond Park and it will be ready to begin trading in March 2022.
“We are excited to extend our relationship with Takealot for its second premises at Richmond Park, and especially for a landmark distribution centre of this scale”, commented Arno du Plessis, Atterbury’s Western Cape development manager.
The new distribution centre will be in Richmond Park’s northern precinct, less than a kilometre from the Customer Collection Centre in the retail-focused southern precinct of the park. It is also a couple of kilometres from the Takealot logistics centre in nearby Montague Park.
Ryan Winkelman, Distribution Centre Development Manager at Takealot.com, commented:, “Our distribution centre locations are carefully selected. Ensuring a first-rate delivery network with strategic distribution centre locations, like Richmond Park, coupled with a fit-for-purpose building design that has the opportunity to expand, will play a key role in achieving Takealot’s long-term growth ambitions.”
Richmond Park is an 84-hectare site that is part of a milestone land restitution settlement. The land is owned by the Richmond Park Communal Property Association (CPA) – a group of 401 families representing 5,300 people spanning five generations – who were forcibly removed from it between 1972 and 1984. In 2014, the land was transferred back to the CPA. The Richmond Park Community leased the land to the Richmond Park Development Company and has a shareholding in the development company. It is among the largest property developments in Cape Town, with 300,000m2 of greenfield mixed-use development rights. Its major shareholders are Atterbury, Old Mutual Properties, the Richmond Park CPA as well as Qubic 3-Dimensional Property, Bethel Property and Atlantis.
Atterbury’s Western Cape head of developments, Gerrit van den Berg, said: “We couldn’t be more pleased that Takealot has chosen Richmond Park for its new DC. We are proud to be associated with this excellent South African business. Both Takealot and Richmond Park have their own inspiring growth stories, and we are excited that they will write the next chapter of their growth together.”