SAPOA 2026 Awards celebrate property’s best
From landmark developments and municipal performance to journalism and lifetime achievement, SAPOA’s 2026 awards recognised the people and projects shaping South African property.
- The SARB Head Office campus redevelopment claimed the Overall Property Award for Innovative Excellence alongside two category awards.
- Property Wheel won Property News Website of the Year, with Real Estate Investor named runner-up for the second consecutive year.
- Professor Francois Viruly received SAPOA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his enduring contribution to South Africa’s commercial property industry.
South Africa’s property industry celebrated its standout developments, professionals, municipalities and media at the 2026 SAPOA Awards, held during SAPOA’s annual gathering at Sun City.
Across four major areas of recognition, the Property Awards for Innovative Excellence, Journalism Awards for Excellence, SAPOA | Ratings Afrika Municipal Awards and Lifetime Achievement Award – the awards provided a broad snapshot of excellence across the property sector.
From major corporate redevelopments and township retail to student accommodation, sustainability and municipal performance, the 2026 winners demonstrated the increasingly diverse forces shaping South African real estate.
SARB campus takes top property development honour
The 2026 SAPOA Property Awards for Innovative Excellence formed the centrepiece of the development awards, recognising projects across commercial, corporate, industrial, residential, retail, mixed-use, student accommodation and specialist categories.
The evening’s highest development accolade, the Overall Property Award for Innovative Excellence, went to the South African Reserve Bank Head Office campus redevelopment, jointly recognised through GASS Architecture Studios and ADA Architects.
The SARB project had an exceptional awards showing. It was also named Corporate Office Development of the Year and Refurbished Development of the Year, making it one of the defining projects of the 2026 awards.
2026 Property Awards for Innovative Excellence winners
- Commercial Office Development of the Year
Bendehuis – Atterbury / Twin City - Corporate Office Development of the Year
SARB Head Office Campus Redevelopment – GASS Architecture Studios - Industrial Development of the Year
Goscor Lift Trucks, Lords View Industrial Park – West Property Fund - Innovative Development of the Year
UJ Rescue Simulation Centre – Impendulo Design Architects - Interiors Development of the Year
Ninety One Head Office – Growthpoint Properties / Paragon - Mixed-use Development of the Year
The Herringbone – Divercity Urban Property Group / GASS Architecture Studios - ‘Other Development’ of the Year
Emeris Sandton Campus – SNA Architects - Refurbished Development of the Year
SARB Head Office Campus Redevelopment – GASS Architecture Studios - Residential Development of the Year
Yethu City on Sisulu – Octodec / GASS Architecture Studios - Retail Development: Large Regional of the Year
Mushroom Farm Shopping Centre – Century Property Developments - Retail Development: Small Boutique of the Year
Sandton Gate Central – Abcon Developments / Boogertman + Partners - Rural & Small-town Development of the Year
Mbashe LG Mall – Exemplar REITail, McCormick Property Development / MD SArchitecture - Student Accommodation Development of the Year
Volley Roper – BOW+ARC
Three projects were also recognised through SAPOA’s overall transformation, sustainability and heritage categories.
- Overall Transformation of the Year went to Soshanguve Mall, developed by Cubisol Investments.
- Overall Sustainability of the Year went to the Ninety One Head Office, by Growthpoint Properties / Paragon.
- Overall Heritage of the Year was awarded to Bendehuis, by Atterbury / Twin City.
Together, the results demonstrate how the definition of property excellence is expanding beyond conventional measures of development scale and commercial performance. Sustainability, adaptive reuse, heritage, transformation and the quality of the end-user environment are increasingly central to how successful developments are assessed.
Property media recognised at Journalism Awards
The property industry also turned its attention to the journalists, publishers and digital platforms responsible for reporting on and analysing South African real estate at the SAPOA Journalism Awards for Excellence 2026.
The awards recognised work across news, features, publications, websites and digital and broadcast media.
- Property News Website of the Year
Winner: Property Wheel
Runner-up: Real Estate Investor
For REI, the recognition marked the second consecutive year that the platform was named runner-up in the website category.
- Property News Journalist of the Year
Winner: Joan Muller – Financial Mail
Runner-up: Nick Wilson – News24 Business - Property Feature Journalist of the Year
Winner: Joan Muller – Financial Mail
Runner-up: Noxolo Majuvu – Business Day
It was a particularly successful year for Muller, who took both the news and feature journalism categories.
- Property Publication of the Year – Print/Digital
Winner: +Impact Magazine
Runner-up: Asset Magazine - Digital & Broadcast Media of the Year
Winner: Suren Naidoo – Moneyweb
Runners-up: Noxolo Majuvu – Business Day and Ask Ash
The awards underline the role specialist property journalism continues to play in interrogating developments, investment markets, listed property, policy and the wider forces influencing the built environment.
Municipalities recognised for enabling investment
Property development does not take place in isolation. Municipal governance, infrastructure, financial sustainability, planning and service delivery have a direct bearing on investor confidence and the ability of developers to bring new projects to market.
The 2026 SAPOA | Ratings Afrika Municipal Awards recognised municipalities demonstrating excellence, improvement and leadership in creating environments that support sustainable property development and investment.
2026 Municipal Award winners
- Best Metro Municipality
City of Cape Town - Most Improved Municipality
Drakenstein Municipality - Top Local Municipality – 1st
Swartland Municipality - Top Local Municipality – 2nd
Saldanha Bay Municipality - Top Local Municipality – 3rd
Hessequa Local Municipality
The results delivered a particularly strong showing for municipalities in the Western Cape, with the province represented across the leading local municipality rankings as well as the metro category.
For the property industry, municipal performance is far more than an administrative consideration. The quality of local government can influence development approvals, infrastructure availability, rates and taxes, service delivery and ultimately the feasibility and long-term performance of property investments.
Francois Viruly receives Lifetime Achievement Award
One of the most significant individual honours of the awards went to Professor Francois Viruly, recipient of the SAPOA Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award is among the highest honours bestowed by SAPOA and recognises a lifetime of dedication, leadership and enduring influence on South Africa’s commercial property industry.
Viruly has become one of the country’s recognised voices in property economics, education and the built environment, contributing to the development of industry knowledge and successive generations of property professionals.
His recognition provided an appropriate counterpoint to awards celebrating the industry's newest developments and emerging innovations: an acknowledgement that the future of the property sector is also built on decades of accumulated knowledge, leadership and contribution.
A broad measure of property excellence
Taken together, the 2026 SAPOA Awards tell a much bigger story than a list of winners.
The development awards highlighted innovation across virtually every major property class, from offices and industrial property to retail, residential, mixed-use development and student accommodation. Recognition for sustainability, transformation and heritage reflected the growing expectation that successful property development should create value beyond the balance sheet.
The municipal awards highlighted the importance of functional local government in creating the conditions in which property investment can take place.
The journalism awards recognised the media professionals and platforms responsible for reporting, analysing and challenging the industry.
And the Lifetime Achievement Award acknowledged the long-term contribution of an individual who has helped shape thinking across South African property.
For an industry navigating changing economic conditions, new investment models and evolving demands from investors, tenants and communities, the SAPOA 2026 Awards ultimately showcased the depth and diversity of talent continuing to shape South Africa’s built environment.
