SET to open on February 1,
the Century City
Conference Centre
in Cape Town will not only
enhance Century City as an
emerging urban development
node but also reinforce the
Western Cape as a global
contender in terms of business
travel.
This is according to joint
ceos, Glyn Taylor and Gary
Koetser, who welcomed PCOs
during a ‘hard hat launch’ in
June to introduce them to the
product.
The conference centre will
form part of a R1bn mixed-use
development by Rabie Property
Group, which will also include
the 125-room Century City
Hotel and the Century City
Square. Between the two, the
area will offer restaurants,
bars and coffee shops.
The conference centre will
have a total capacity for
1 900 guests across 20
venues. These include four
large halls, three of which can
be combined, a ballroom, an
open-plan foyer for exhibitions
and launches, 12 meeting
rooms, an 80-seat business
lounge and an outdoor event
venue of 1 200sqm.
Glyn and Gary say they
have tried to incorporate all
meeting planner feedback
they have received over
the years into the centre’s
internal designs. Examples
include attention to the
acoustic treatment of venues,
ceiling heights, kitchen size,
back-of-house accessibility,
event planner storerooms,
PCO offices, complimentary
water machines, furniture
storerooms, parking, furniture
with device-charging points and
weather pattern inference.
While the centre is just
bricks and mortar, the focus
will be on ensuring the delivery
of “exceptional service,
flexibility and staff who will
never say no to a request”,
says Gary. “We have created
a solid foundation on which
anything can be built. Our
only constraints are the
internal walls which determine
capacities, however as this is
a billion rand of private equity
and stake, we need to be
entrepreneurial in our decision
making to ensure we remain
competitive. These days, in our
opinion, the only recessionproof
qualities are flexibility
and relationships.”
The local market will be the
key focus for the conference
centre, however the rest of the
precinct does have capacity to
service various target markets,
particularly in terms of the
increased hospitality offerings
that will be coming online with
the centre, say Glyn and Gary.
One of the key concerns
raised with regard to
the location of the new
conference centre is traffic,
especially in the morning
and afternoon peak periods.
Chris Blackshaw, ceo of the
Century City Property Owners’
Association, says extensive
measures are being taken to
improve traffic flows. “Rabie
Property Group has committed
to additional infrastructure
upgrade projects that should
significantly improve the traffic
capacity and flow, particularly
on Sable Road, and mitigate
the extra traffic expected from
additional projects coming on
stream,” he says. A total of
R22,5m has been committed
for the road upgrades.
