Why has Cape Town's giant green residential building been cancelled?

Mail & Guardian

18 hours ago

Aspirational: This is what The Fynbos would have looked like
– a sustainable building in the city centre. Photo: Supplied
It's not often that you hear about a huge residential development in the centre of Cape Town being cancelled. Especially one that had already broken ground and was poised to make African property development history by being the first biophilic — or nature connected — building in Africa.
But that's what has happened with The Fynbos on 142 Bree Street.
What was once marketed as Africa's first truly green residential tower — a sleek, visionary project with sustainability at its core — has now been called off.
Construction has been slow, and there has been little activity on the erf over the past year. Aside from a couple of bulldozers occasionally sprinkled on the site, there has been little movement.
On 13 May, the developer of The Fynbos informed purchasers that the original plan had been cancelled.
The reason? A shift in the market and strategy. According to a notice sent to purchasers, the original developer, Lurra Capital, made the call to withdraw. The site has since been handed over to a new player: Tricolt. It's a familiar name in the jungle of Jozi. And this will be its second Mother City project in the pipeline.
The Fynbos wasn't just another boutique build with a couple of dozen apartments and some rooftop amenities. A cancellation of this magnitude is a big deal.
With 689 residential units right in the middle of the city centre, it would have been one of the biggest projects ever launched to market over the past decade.
For a city already grappling with housing pressure and a tricky approval process for new large-scale projects, this cancellation isn't just a bump in the road; it's a thunderclap.
The original site had a decent-sized building on it that housed a Supa Quick Fitment centre and a debt-management company in the office section at the top. Spear Reit was the original owner of this building and sold it to a shelf company with one director for a whopping R150 million. A few months later, The Fynbos scheme was launched to market. That's a pretty high land acquisition cost.
It raises questions about confidence, funding and the appetite for large-scale residential developments of this kind in Cape Town. It also speaks to the complexity of the inner-city property market, where buyers want well-located, future-proof apartments, but developers are having to juggle construction costs, interest rates, political instability and shifting buyer sentiment.
From my point of view, it also underscores just how fragile even the most hyped projects can be. When a site that is this high profile hits pause, even after excavation, lateral support and years of planning, it's a reminder that the market remains volatile. Even with all the right ingredients (and paired with reputable developers), nothing is guaranteed.
While the cancellation is a blow, it's not entirely depressing, because the baton has now been passed to a developer with a track record of making things happen.
I've been following Tricolt's work for years. It's not your average developer churning out cookie-cutter units on the city fringe. It plays big, bold and beautifully.
It was founded by Tim Kloeck, whose first project was building his own house. He scaled the company from the ground up. Tricolt is now one of Johannesburg's premium residential developers. Since 2010, it has completed more than 5 000 luxury residences, with an end value north of R16 billion. It's currently juggling eight projects in Gauteng, with a combined development value of more than R5 billion.
One of Tricolt's standout developments is Ellipse Waterfall, with four sleek high-rise towers in Waterfall City, built in partnership with Attacq Ltd. The first three towers are sold out. The final tower, Galileo, is nearly complete. Price tags? About R8 million to R15 million for penthouses, with one record-breaking unit that sold to a tenant who lives in it for a staggering R95 million — the most expensive penthouse ever sold in Gauteng.
And then there's Olympus in Sandton, which was launched in February this year with 510 units. Tricolt has partnered with South Africa's largest listed landlord, Growthpoint Properties, to bring this project with an estimated project value of R2 billion to life. It hit R1.3 billion in sales just weeks after launch. That's some serious momentum if you ask me.
So, when I say this site in Cape Town is in good hands, I mean it. This isn't just about swopping developers. It's about a shift in vision, scale and delivery capability.
Tricolt has a proven model: large-scale luxury, desirable locations, amenity-rich living, and an understanding of the modern investor-buyer. It partners with big names and isn't afraid to spend to deliver a polished product. The developments are aspirational and experiential.
Amenities in Tricolt's developments include rooftop sky bars, wine cellars, wellness centres, boutique spas, co-working lounges, fire bomas, pools with a view and plenty of imagination and detail.
I am excited to see what Tricolt will do with 142 Bree Street, Cape Town, which should put it to the test. Cape Town is not Johannesburg. The property market there dances to a different rhythm. It's slower, more cautious, fickle and preservation-focused, with far stricter heritage overlays and municipal red tape. Add to that a highly vocal local community, and it becomes clear that this will be a new kind of challenge for Tricolt.
Although the Cape Town market has its quirks, the fundamentals remain strong: high tourism appeal, robust short-term rental performance and growing interest from investors — for the right product, in the correct location.
Word on the street is that Tricolt is planning more Cape Town launches soon.
Its first new development here (aside from the former Fynbos site) will be a boutique block of 35 apartments called Cantabella, launching in Gardens in July 2025. It will be located at the corner of Buitengracht and New Church streets. This is also a prime node with walkability and stunning views.
So what does this mean for the Cape Town property market?
It brings fresh capital, expertise and new energy, and perhaps a mindset shift. One that treats Cape Town not just as a postcard city, but as a viable, investable, scalable place to build aspirational living spaces at scale.
Naturally, we need to acknowledge the original vision behind The Fynbos. It was meant to be Africa's first green residential tower, a vertical forest in the city, a symbol of sustainable urban living. The cancellation of that specific concept is disappointing. The 1 200m2 vertical garden was to consist of 20 species of shrub and 30 species of trees. Older development brochures used to boast that 'flying' gardeners would have been a first for Cape Town when it came to TLC of the garden.
But I also believe that sometimes, projects evolve, and that's okay.
The bones are still there. The location is world-class. The groundwork has been completed, with the basement and lateral support work already done. And now, a new chapter begins. Construction could restart next year pending city approvals. No new plans or renders have been released yet. The entire scheme is being redesigned. That means new layouts, new pricing (probably higher) and a new vision that is in the planning stages. Updated details are expected within the next four to six months.
Buyers who were initially signed up for The Fynbos have been refunded, and Tricolt has extended an olive branch: it's offering to cover the first year's levies for those who choose to re-invest.
Yes, losing The Fynbos as originally envisioned is a blow to Cape Town's skyline and its sustainability ambitions. But this is not the end of the story.
Ask Ash examines South Africa's property, architecture and living spaces. Continue the conversation with her on email (