Johannesburg’s Central Park City is set to begin construction on Phase 1, Madison Square, with five other phases to be added in the future, totaling 3,450 apartments.
This new ‘city’ is one of many planned to be created in Gauteng, which is suffering from a housing shortage estimated at around 1.3 million units.
At the current pace of construction, the problem is expected to take decades to address, with the state government launching six “megacities” along major transportation routes.
Central Park City is not one of these, being developed with private funding on 32 hectares of land in the Newlands/Sophiatown area of Johannesburg.
Construction on the new development is expected to begin soon, with the first phase of 624 units already sold. Currently, 124 units are sold, and from 2026 onwards, the following units will be released periodically in five stages.
Samuel Seeff, chairman of Seeff Property Group, previously said the first units had already been sold and that he expected significant interest in the new development.
The project aims to become a precinct for young professionals and students seeking easy access to the University of Johannesburg, Wits, the historic CBD and Rosebank.
So far, significant progress has been made at the site and repairs are being made to make it suitable for future large-scale construction.
Madison Square, the first development targeted at first-time buyers, has apartments priced from R589,000 to R971,000.
The project is being led by Urban Dev Property Development, which has a track record of delivering large-scale residential projects such as the Vista Park integrated development in Bloemfontein.
As well as thousands of apartments, the development will include a shopping village with Pick n Pay, Clicks and potentially a private gym.
Amenities include a laundromat, clubhouse, common braai area, children’s playground, private and public parks, combi courts, full 5-a-side mini soccer astro courts, pickleball, outdoor gym, and sports facilities including a skateboard rink.
Strong interest in the new development is expected as Thief represents an attractive opportunity for buyers and property investors alike.
Gauteng’s new “urban” revolution
Central Park City is one of many new developments, so-called “cities”, being built around Gauteng to alleviate the province’s housing shortage.
The province has experienced significant growth in recent years as individuals migrate from other parts of South Africa in search of jobs and value.
Historically, Gauteng, South Africa’s economic capital, has suffered a distinct lack of new infrastructure development to accommodate its growing population.
This can be seen in the sporadic water shortages affecting parts of the state and the weakness of the City of Johannesburg’s electricity management grid.
As a sort of antidote to the crisis, the Gauteng government has announced plans to build six “megacities” across the province.
Located near major transport hubs, these cities will create near-self-sufficient nodes to add housing to Gauteng without straining existing infrastructure.
The Southern Farms Megacity in southern Johannesburg has seen the most progress, with construction beginning on the mixed-use land project in October 2025.
The R27-billion, 43,000-home development is expected to provide a blueprint for a new property development model in the state.
Southern Farms Megacity will be built alongside other megacities such as Cullinan Megacity, Dagafontein Megacity, Gordland Megacity, John Dube Megacity and Stinkwater Megacity.
These developments are designed to include significant infrastructure development to serve tens of thousands of residential units and commercial businesses.
The six megacities are located on at least one of Gauteng’s major transport corridors and will be home to schools, universities, hospitals and transport hubs.
This will reduce pressure on Gauteng’s already highly developed regions and help address the housing shortage without overloading existing infrastructure.
They represent a transition from sporadic and uncoordinated development to intentionally planned and developed areas aimed at being as self-sufficient as possible.
central park city rendering
