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Attacq has broken ground on a R750m conference centre and hotel at Waterfall City, marking its latest investment to expand the Midrand precinct into a business and hospitality hub.The development, undertaken in partnership with Rabie Property, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2028 and will add one of Gauteng’s largest purpose-built conferencing venues to the market as developers position for a recovery in business travel and events.The project will comprise a conference centre with capacity for 1,350 delegates in a single venue and up to 2,000 guests in 16 event spaces, alongside a 180-room hotel with restaurants, wellness facilities and outdoor event areas.The facility will be operated by African Rain Collection, the hospitality group behind Cape Town’s Century City Conference Centre and hotels.Group development executive David Oosthuizen said the project would unlock the next phase of growth at Waterfall City.“This has been a long time coming — five years in the making — and it’s exciting to finally see it out of the ground,” he said.Oosthuizen said the conference centre and hotel would complement other developments under way in the precinct, including Gateway East and Aspire, and would act as a catalyst for further investment.“Waterfall City is going to look very different in the next 18 months, and our clients are just as excited about that as we are,” he said.The investment comes as property owners increasingly seek to diversify mixed-use precincts beyond office, retail and residential assets by adding hospitality and experiential offerings that attract visitors and support surrounding commercial activity.This has been a long time coming — five years in the making — and it’s exciting to finally see it out of the ground— David Oosthuizen, group development executive African Rain Collection CEO Gary Koetser said demand for the facility was encouraging even before construction began.“The response since announcing the project has reinforced our confidence that we have the right product, in the right place, at the right time,” he said.“Enquiries are already coming through, and the market and the travel trade are all telling us the same thing: this is exactly what Joburg needs,” Koetser said.Attacq said the conference centre and hotel form part of Waterfall City’s long-term master plan to strengthen the precinct’s position as a mixed-use destination, combining commercial, residential, retail, logistics and hospitality assets.
