October 17 2025 19:15
Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof
Growthpoint Properties (JSE:GRT) excelled at the 2025 South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence, taking home three wins, including top honours. The recognition highlights Growthpoint’s leadership in shaping South Africa’s built environment.
Two of Growthpoint’s recent projects were celebrated. Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof, situated in its distinctive Longkloof mixed-use development, won the Overall Best Development Award along with Best Mixed-Use Project. Thrive @ Crescent Studios in Johannesburg, won Best Student Accommodation Project.
The SAPOA Awards for Innovative Excellence recognise projects that redefine South Africa’s property landscape through design, sustainability, functionality, and positive social effects. Developments are judged across a range of categories, with winners representing the very best of the sector.
Growthpoint’s success at this year’s awards demonstrated the company’s ability to deliver projects that balance commercial value with broader contributions to their communities.
In Cape Town, Growthpoint’s Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof is an exiciting project in the mixed-use historic Longkloof precinct on the edge of the CBD. Covering 16,500m², the project involved refurbishing five heritage buildings, selective demolitions and the addition of a new 154-key five-star hotel.
Working with dhk Architects, the development transformed the once landlocked Longkloof site into a mixed-use destination that integrates office, retail and hospitality. Public spaces, pedestrian walkways, retail outlets, cafés and Longkloof Square now enliven the Longkloof precinct’s street life and enhance connectivity to the city, Growthpoint said.
Growthpoint replaced surface parking with three levels of underground parking, freeing up space for urban activity and seamlessly linking the different uses in Longkloof. The project is a model of how heritage preservation and modern development can work in harmony to deliver urban renewal at scale.
The SAPOA judges recognised its complexity, design quality and catalytic impact on Cape Town’s city centre.
Located just a minute’s walk from the University of the Witwatersrand, Thrive @ Crescent Studios is a high-end student accommodation development. The twelve-storey, purpose-built residence offers 871 beds across 351 well-designed apartments, providing studio, two- and three-bedroom options. Each unit features private kitchens and bathrooms.
Students benefit from dedicated study zones on every floor, a fully equipped computer lab, and collaboration rooms to support academic focus and peer connection. Social and wellness amenities include a rooftop entertainment area, gym, laundry facilities, games room, braai areas and a multi-sport court.
Thrive @ Crescent Studios
Estienne de Klerk, SA CEO of Growthpoint Properties said Growthpoint was proud.
Estienne de Klerk, Growthpoint SA CEO
“Winning three awards at this year’s SAPOA Awards is a tremendous honour for Growthpoint. Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof and Thrive @ Crescent Studios both demonstrate our commitment to creating developments that add real value – not just for investors and tenants, but for the people and communities who use them every day,” he said.
Reflecting on the Longkloof project’s dual awards, he said: “The recognition of Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof as Overall Best Development is especially meaningful. The Longkloof mixed-use precinct was a complex undertaking that required balancing heritage preservation with bold urban renewal. The result is a development that invests in the heart of Cape Town, celebrates its history and creates a vibrant destination for the future.”
247@propertyflash.co.za
