Luxury villas in Sun City’s R295m development are being snapped up

Sun International, the JSE-listed gaming, casino and hotel group, says sales of the R295m first phase of Sun Vacation Club luxury accommodation at Sun City are way ahead of its parent company’s study into their feasibility.

Sun International said since the development launched in October 2022, gross sales at the end of July reached R166m. Of the total first phase development cost, R45m was incurred during the 2022 financial year with the balance in 2023.

The Sun Vacation Club development announced in 2022 is a project expected to cost about R850m over the next five years — with the second demand-driven phase to cost about R550m.

“We realised that the demand for high-end luxury accommodation was there, but the market reaction to the development exceeded all our expectations and outstripped our sales predictions,” said Janita Donaldson, Sun Vacation Club group GM.

Unlimited access to Business Day and Financial Mail - See our subscription options

By September, all the four-bedroom villas were sold and the pace of sales for the three-bedroom villas was tracking way above expectations, said Donaldson.

She said when reservations opened on October 5, existing Sun Vacation Cub members accounted for 22% of reservations. More than 50% of the four-bedroom villas were booked for the next 12 months on the same day.

“Forty percent of sales were snapped up by existing Sun Vacation Club members, with 60% bought by new members signing up for the first time,” said Donaldson.

The Vacation Club, with 22,000 members, offers options for five to 10 years during peak and off-peak periods. Sun International first introduced the conventional timeshare model at Sun City in 1996 by converting a staff village into a resort.

Lefika Villas is the first five-star timeshare on offer at the Sun Vacation Club. It offers a clubhouse, restaurants and other amenities. The first phase of Lefika Villas will add 58 villas for affluent local and international travellers and consists of 48 three-bedroom and 10 free-standing four-bedroom villas.

Sun City Resort GM Brett Hoppe said the development could not have come at a more opportune time. “We are facing unprecedented demand due to the Nedbank Golf Challenge starting on November 6 and with the holiday season fast approaching.”

The villas are already fully booked for Christmas and New Year.

Lefika, which means “stone” in the local Setswana language, pays homage to the adjacent stone-walled Itlholanoga heritage site — the real Lost City of the greater Sun City resort.

A team of 15 architects and designers from Boogertman + Partners and Boogertman Interiors Turnkey spent the past 18 months designing and supervising construction as well as procuring furniture and fixtures for the building, landscape and interiors.

The group maintained a 30% local spend by using about 50 subcontractors, service providers and local labour.

Sun City, near Rustenburg in North West, is the group’s flagship property. Opened in 1979, it is renowned for its hotels, golf courses, casino and a range of leisure and entertainment facilities.

The Sun City Resort continues to achieve exceptional performance following the restructure and streamlining of its operations, along with the resort’s strong appeal to the SA market.

During the six-months ended June, income rose 26% from R709m to R890m, occupancies grew from 54% to 63% with room rate growth close to 50%.

“Domestic conferencing and leisure have returned strongly — adding a boost to our revenue,” said Hoppe.

He said the casino market is seeing good revenue growth with the mass gambling market making a comeback. International travel is expected to start to recover at the end of this year and into 2024.

mhlangad@businesslive.co.za