1,500m² Lodge For Sale in Vlakplaats

RANCH FOR SALE!

RARE OPORTUNITY OF A LIFE TIME!

OWN AN ECOTOURISM BUSINESS IN THE MIDST OF THE GREAT GAUTENG.

This Ranch offers an assortments of Buildings :
The Auditorium is a double-story face-brick structure under a corrugated iron roof.

It has a 10m x 10m conference room that seats up to 50 people in a cinema-style seating layout. The conference room has double French doors leading onto a 3m wide stoep that wraps around the building. This conference space doubles as a guest dining room for residential AirBNB guests who prefer not to self-cater.

There is an upstairs library/breakout room in the Auditorium with French doors that lead onto a small north facing balcony.

The Auditorium’s kitchen is fitted with industrial 3-phase appliances including an ice machine, a bar fridge, a plate warmer and an industrial dishwasher. The kitchen has a serving hatch onto the stoep and an outside door for staff access.

On the ground floor is a 3m x 3m office and a small strongroom with a reinforced concrete ceiling.

There are separate ladies’ and gent’s toilets. The gent’s toilet has one cubicle, a urinal and a shower; the ladies’ toilet has 2 x cubicles and a shower.

There is ample brick-paved parking space for most guests with ample overflow parking within the security perimeter.

There are four residential cottages of which three are income generating properties.
Main House:
The main house can be occupied by the owner and his family.

It is a high-pitched A-frame structure built with natural rocks and houses an open-plan kitchen, an entrance hall, a lounge and an outside patio.

The upstairs loft room within the A-frame structure has built-in cupboards, an en-suite bathroom with shower. The room leads through French doors onto a wooden balcony.

Leading off the main house on the ground floor is a study and through it, a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom with bath, shower and a moderately-sized dressing room with built-in cupboards.

Cottage #1:
A compact single-person dwelling under IBR roofing tucked away under the shade of established trees.

The cottage has a bedroom with small built-in cupboards, a bathroom with shower, a kitchenette and a small living room.

Cottage #2:

This is a spacious 1 x bedroom cottage built with natural rock and under thatch.

The cottage has a large upstairs bedroom, a downstairs study with built-in cupboards, a small lounge, a compact kitchen, a scullery and a bathroom with shower. The bathroom is not en-suite but there is an easy way to later add an extra en-suite bathroom onto the upstairs bedroom.

Cottage #3:

A spacious 2 x bedroom cottage built with natural rock under a thatch roof.

This cottage has a main bedroom with built-in cupboards, an en-suite bathroom with bath and a shower in the bath.

The cottage also has a second smaller bedroom with en-suite bathroom and double shower.

The cottage has a compact open-plan dining room, a lounge, a kitchen and its own 1 x vehicle carport under thatch.

The building is quite separate from the other domestic buildings on the property and is therefore much more private. It is positioned under a shady canopy of established trees and has its own lawns and patio.

LAPA and Swimming Pool:

The Lapa and pool have easy access to the Auditorium.

The Lapa is under thatch and the swimming pool is set into the natural rock.

The round pool has a black fiberglass lining and is approximately 11/2m deep and 4m in diameter.

Hangar:
The ‘hangar’ has commercial possibilities.

The building originally served as a microlight hangar before Civil Aviation prohibited the use of private airfields.

It is a solid steel structure under a corrugated iron roof.


open, expose the entire front of the building. The Hangar can be usd as a wedding venue or for any other function. The possibilities are endless…

It has bathroom fitted with shower. I

Gardens and Landscaping:

Protea Ranch has extensive natural terraces among the natural rocks, lush vegetation, vast lawns, hidden walkways and a few delightful lookout spots with great uninterrupted views into the Schurveberg valley.

The residential area is well-shaded under a canopy of many, many established trees, most of which are indigenous apart from an assortment of shrubs, flowers and a few beautiful Jacarandas.

Except for the lawns, the garden is extremely waterwise.

There are 2 unfenced open koi ponds built into the natural contours of the rocks and waterproofed with rubberised sealants. Both ponds have cascading waterfalls at the end of the pipes that return circulated, filtered pond water.

There are 8 raised vegetable gardens located inside a 7m x 7m fenced enclosure. Two of these beds are under shade cloth.

Adjacent to the vegetable garden is a 5m x 7m fenced area with 5 x brick pens where dogs sleep at night but this enclosure could easily serve as a chicken run.

Among the hundreds of trees in the residential part of the property are 2 x mature mulberry trees, 2 x high-yielding lemon trees and 1 x avocado pear tree.

Double Garage:

Built from natural rock, this structure is under a corrugated iron roof and has space to park two vehicles.

The building has a small adjacent tool room and an external carport under IBR roofing.

The structure has lockable steel gates.

Staff Quarters:

There are 5 x 21/2m x 21/2m staff rooms each with electricity and panel heaters. There is a common, bathroom/laundry with a hot-water shower.

The staff cluster is inside the security zone at the back of the property and is itself contained within its own fenced area.

Crocodile River Nature Reserve and Land Utilisation:

Protea Ranch is a member of the Crocodile River Nature Reserve located on the northeastern side of the reserve.

Provincial government have already zoned the area as a nature reserve under private landowner ownership in the hopes of keeping visitors to Gauteng for longer stays in the province. This creates great ecotourism possibilities for businesses that work alongside each other within the reserve, which significantly adds to Protea Ranch’s unique income earning potential in ecotourism.

The Ranch is home 96 recorded species of birds and it has interesting walking trails in the hills behind the residential area. These features attract a specific kind of AirBNB guest who wants more than a night’s accommodation. Among these folk are keen birdwatchers and those interested in the natural fauna and flora uniquely found in the Schurveberg hills.

Hoogland Health Hydra is Protea Ranch’s neighbour to the west. Hoogland’s owners have proposed the formation of a common walking trail across both properties. Their land has rich fossil caves, a very interesting a biodiverse ecosystem and a variety of wild animals.

The total extent of Protea Ranch’s property is ± 21 hectares of which, a sizable part are the rocky protected koppies to the south and a flat, non-arable rocky plain to the north.

The residential area situated towards the centre of the land is a circular, elevated rocky dome with excellent views into the Schurveberg valley.

Protea Ranch has the feeling of being out in the country yet having the advantage of being near (25km) to Fourways and Brooklyn, making it “Your in-city country venue”.

Vehicle Access:

There is only one access road to Protea Ranch.

Protea Ranch is situated a short distance off the M26 – the tar road running between Diepsloot and Erasmia.

One turns onto the D420 (a provincial dirt road) at Gerardsville and travels for 1km before turning onto a private tar servitude.

At the end of the tar servitude, one finds the 1km single strip road leading over the koppies to Protea Ranch. This last kilometre has adequate stormwater drainage that prevents most storm erosion. The strip road has frequent passing-bays along its length but is not really suitable for vehicles with extremely low-profile tyres or very low fairings.

Security:

There is only one vehicle access route which reinforce the security of the Ranch and acts as a crime deterrent because it would be easy to intercept any unwanted visitor.

There are only two road bridges crossing the Hennops along this stretch of the river, giving Protea Ranch a natural barrier between it and Attridgeville lying out of sight over the crest of the Schurveberg ridge.

There is a 750m 24- strand stainless steel security fence erected. The fence is segmented into 2 sectors, one sector protecting the north of the residential footprint and the other the south of this domestic area.

Each sector of fencing connects to its own Nemtek Druid 20LCD Fence Controller.

Buildings within the perimeter fence have external PIR beams giving them a 360˚ footprint around the structure as well as several interior PIRs for added security whenever the buildings are unoccupied. The buildings also have steel burglar bars and, where possible, Trellidor security barriers on all opening doors.

Overarching and connected to all the aforementioned security infrastructure are 3 x Hyyp Systems (a local product from IDS) that share a powerful centrally located siren. Each of the Hyyp controllers uses mobile network technology to report security activity via Hyyp’s mobile user app. Using the app from anywhere in the world, one checks movement on the property, knows when power is lost or restored and arms and disarms buildings and zones as needed. Hyyp has the capability to host remote camera surveillance via its app but this feature is yet to be added to Protea Ranch’s security infrastructure.

Lastly, Protea Ranch falls into Sector 2 of the Erasmia SAPS Precinct. This sector has an active, well-structured and disciplined neighbourhood watch (locally known as Plotwatch) to which households can obtain membership (for a donation of around R460/m). Plotwatch conducts regular visible patrols throughout the night .

Internet/Communications:

Because Protea Ranch lies inside the Schurveberg valley and is surrounded by koppies on all but one side, mobile connections can be problematic. For this reason, Protea Ranch has a data contract with Vodacom (around R1,500/m) to supply a point-to-point 40Mbit/s uncapped upload/download wireless link in and out of the property.
From the central hub in the Auditorium (the highest site), internet gets beamed via an in-house WLAN to the domestic buildings.

Municipal Rates & Taxes:

Because of Protea Ranch’s zoning and because the City of Tshwane cannot supply the normal municipal services to the property, Protea Ranch enjoys low Rates and Taxes (of around R600/m).
Electricity:

Electricity is purchased directly from Eskom.

Eskom supplies a 3-phase power source to Protea Ranch (averaging around R12,000/m with the lowest being around R6,500/m).

Protea Ranch has its own 40kVa Kipkor standby generator capable of supplying most of electricity needs to the property.

The generator’s diesel consumption is around 4.5ltr/hour.

The generator is integrated into the main power supply allowing it to be automatically switched on and off whenever there is a change in Eskom’s power supply.

Naturally, one can configure the generator to run in manual mode too.

Water:
There are 2 x boreholes found outside the security zone to the north.

Each borehole has its own pump and set of controls.

The borehole depths average some 60m and have a high, continuous output flow. Because these boreholes lie outside the security zone each is protected by a device

known as gat-se-deksel, a locally manufactured system giving tamper-resistant protection to the borehole pumps.

Water is pumped into 3 x 4,500ltr reservoirs situated within the security zone and is then further pumped under pressure to all the buildings.

Because the boreholes tap into the dolomite water table, there is always a continuous, year-round supply to water lawns and provide all the property’s domestic needs.

Garbage:
Protea Ranch lies outside Tshwane’s refuse removal area.

However, over the past 30-years and more, a local resident in the neighbouring village supplies (for around R300/m) a reliable, low-cost refuse removal service.

Firebreaks and Fire Precautions:

Protea Ranch has a 11/2m firebreak running along the inside and another 11/2m firebreak running along the outside of the perimeter fence. Beyond that is another firebreak some 10m to 15m on the outside of the property running parallel to the fence. The grass between these 2 x firebreaks gets burned every winter to minimise the risk of letting external fires breach into the secure zone.

The 2 x cottages under thatch both lie beneath a 45˚ cone provided by a single lightning rod.

Furthermore, both cottages are sufficiently far from the perimeter fence thereby further minimising the risk from external fires.


Future Vision:
There are possible improvements to Protea Ranch that would substantially increase its revenue earning potential:

Within the security zone bounded by the perimeter fence are two open tracts of land, both with exceptional uninterrupted views into the Schurveberg valley. One of those places has a north-westerly view and the other a north-easterly view. The latter is near to the main entrance gate and the Hangar; the other is on the far side of the property.

Both sites lend themselves to the erection of a few clustered permanent tents on raised platforms under a covered roof. Each tent would sleep 2 x people and each would have its own bathroom with rustic shower.

One could build 3 x tented rooms on the eastern side of the property and five on the western side, thereby adding an additional 16 beds per night to one’s revenue.

Lastly, because of the incredible views of the Schurveberg valley outside the Hangar, one could easily capitalise on the Hangar turning it into a second function venue by erecting a permanent stretched tarpaulin roof over a concrete floor directly in front of the Hangar doors, thereby turning the Hangar into a beautifully situated outdoor function venue.

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