THE collapse of two prominent Cape Town luxury hotel developments – 15-on-Orange and the half-finished Blaauwberg Hotel – were unfortunately be the headlines that dominated the Cape property sector in 2012.

While the fate of both over-capitalised luxury developments still hang in the balance, there are certainly signs that the Cape real estate sector could be in for a vibrant 2013.

While the Cape property sector has not seen a prominent regional force since the days of Spearhead and the early version of Paramount, there appears to be an inspired thrust to build a specialised Western Cape development presence by Ingenuity Property.

Ingenuity has largely streaked below the radar, but the company is bound to come to prominence in 2013 with three major developments in progress – the re-development of Newspaper House in St Georges Mall, Cape Town; the redevelopment of Atlantic Centre situated at Culemborg on the Foreshore, Cape Town; and the development of a third building on the Santam site in Tyger Valley.

These will all be completed in the year ahead, and substantially enhance Ingenuity’s net rental base…not to mention increase the capacity for Ingenuity to latch onto new development opportunities in the Western Cape.

The Newspaper House development (acquired for R86m and set for a R160m upgrade) looks particularly lucrative as Ingenuity is able to convert old industrial space into A-grade offices and retail premises with a gross lettable area of over 14 000 square metre.

Tenants with long term leases include Independent Newspapers and Fruit and Veg City Holdings as well as Groupon and Serco BPO.

It could also be an eventful 2013 for Trematon, a Cape-based investment company with Cape-based property investments.

Trematon should be watched for two reasons. The first is whether the company will be receptive for bids for 100% holding in Club Mykonos Langebaan, which – aside form a significant minority stake in the Mykonos casino – holds a huge tract of undeveloped land in the Langebaan area.

Secondly, word on the street is that Trematon may be tempted to launch a Cape Town-based residential property fund with a JSE listing during the year. This would be a first of its kind on the JSE.

Another key development to watch in the year ahead are the plans by empowerment giant Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) to develop property. Besides holding a sprawling industrial property portfolio inside Cape-based operating subsidiaries Seardel and Golden Arrow Bus Services, the group has kicked off its own property development initiative with a retail development in Sea Point. More developments are certain to follow…

Smart money is also paying close attention to the rapid expansion of the Curro private education group – especially the persistent rumour that the PSG controlled group is set to make a considerable real estate investment in the Cape Town southern suburbs to establish a campus in one of SA’s most famous school belts. Exactly which property Curro is eyeing will no doubt be the subject of much conjecture in the year ahead.