Amazon’s new home in Cape Town

Amazon has been using its new African headquarters in Observatory, Cape Town, for over a year.

Zenprop, the developer of the commercial and retail sections of the Riverlands development, confirmed to MyBroadband that the US tech giant occupied its new offices in December 2023.

The quick move is surprising considering the R4.5 billion multi-purpose development— previously known as Riverclub — was the subject of a major court battle that only ended five months earlier.

Riverlands’ developers and groups claiming to represent Indigenous people, including the Observatory Civic Association, clashed over the development being built in an area deemed to be of historical significance.

Ultimately, however, the court dismissed the complaints opposing the development in July 2023.

It found the developer had done the necessary due diligence in consulting with the relevant First Nations representatives and in ensuring the Liesbeek River that runs across the property is rehabilitated.

The Riverlands development consists of a commercial section with offices, a retail section with a mall and various shops, and a residential section with a range of apartments.

Amazon is the main anchor tenant of the commercial section, which began construction in mid-2021.

Its office was part of the first phase of construction in the Summer Place Precinct, located next to the newly-built Berkley Road.

The company’s history in South Africa dates back to the early 2000s, when a team led by Chris Pinkham helped develop a key component for Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s biggest cloud service provider.

Amazon has continued to maintain a presence in the country since then and employs over 6,000 workers in the country.

The company consistently has dozens of jobs available in South Africa.

It recently also launched its local e-commerce marketplace, Amazon.co.za, which has a fulfilment centre in Cape Town.

More office space and a mall

The second and third phases of the Riverlands development are focused on the Riverside Precinct.

This area houses several additional offices — some of which have been occupied — which also overlook the Liesbeek River.

“We expect full occupation of a number of the offices by March 2025,” said Zenprop.

Zenprop said that the Liesbeek River had also undergone substantial rehabilitation, as the developers had committed.

“During construction, the concrete bedding was removed from the river and the area was returned to a more natural state,” the developer said.

“This section of the Liesbeek River has now been replanted with indigenous flora, and care has been taken to provide habitats for indigenous animal and birdlife.”

The river rehabilitation has also helped make the area more resilient to extreme weather events.

“During the elevated rain levels that Cape Town experienced in the winter of 2024, the newly rehabilitated riverine section did not burst its banks in the same way areas that still had concrete bedding or channels did,” Zenprop said.

The fourth phase of the project will add more offices in the Bridgeside Precinct adjacent to the new Berkley Road Bridge.

Zenprop has already concluded leases with international and South African blue-chip companies who will take up space in these offices.

The Riverside Precinct also contains the Riverlands Mall, which was opened to the public on 21 November 2024.

It features a Checkers, Woolworths, Clicks, and Pick n Pay Clothing, and a range of other smaller stores and coffee shops.

Residential units and heritage centre

The final part of the development — the residential section — will be completed during the course of 2025.

“The residential units at Riverlands are also proving to be very popular, with Riverlands being positioned so centrally in Cape Town,” Zenprop said.

“The pre-sales of the units have achieved our targets, once again underscoring that there is a high demand in Cape Town for high-quality and affordable new housing.”

Nestled between Amazon’s headquarters and the Riverside Precinct will be the First Nations Heritage Centre for the remembrance and celebration of the history and living culture of the Khoi and San nations.

This centre will be run by the Western Cape First Nations Collective, with whom the developers worked to ensure the property would acknowledge the area’s historical significance and the first people who lived there.