DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The majority of development finance for phase one has been provided by private equity from Prescient Inc Property Fund, along with a small portion of development finance from Standard Bank. Finance for phase 2 will be financed strictly against pre-sales.
The developer is The Conversion Trust, managed by Prescient Property Services. The Trust has worked in close association with Cape Retirement Consultants, specialists in the retirement industry, having been involved with numerous retirement developments over the past 30 years. From the start, The Trust has also worked in close consultation with Huis Klippedrift, an existing old age home in Napier that is exceptionally well run by a local board, under the guiding hand of BADISA. The intent has always been to work in partnership with Huis Klippedrift, rather than to compete with it, and a number of skills and services will be shared between the two facilities.
PROFESSIONAL TEAM
The Architects, Nic Border Architects, have designed numerous retirement facilities and have become specialists in this sector. They are also experienced in the design of Cape Vernacular architecture, imperative with the restoration and response to the ‘Old School’ building. They were ably assisted by Bredasdorp-based town planners and land surveyors, Town and Country, who handled the re-zoning and consolidation process. Kathy Dumbrell Architectural Historian handled the Heritage process and approval.
Napier Retirement Village is a fine example of adaptive re-use of a building, where the conservation of our built heritage has been retained, while a new use has been found in an environmentally responsible way by minimizing the increase of the building’s ‘carbon footprint’. By blending old and new, a sustainable future has been ensured for ‘Die Ou Skool’ complex.