Urban Dev's founding members and directors were also founding members of Calgro, in specific Derek and Deon Steyn who founded Calgro in 1995. We, are extremely privileged as Urban Dev with the invaluable experience we gained over the last 25 years as part of the Calgro executive team.
We pride ourselves on the fully integrated residential development model, which was developed by the executive team of Calgro over a number of years and who is currently the market leader in this market segment. Urban Dev intend to build and improve on this unique development model where possible.
Sam Marais matriculated from Grey College in 1993 and went on to attend the University of the Orange Free State where he achieved a BSc Quantity Surveying degree in 1998.
Sam was appointed Area Manager for the Free State area of Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd (company's name changed to Calgro M3 after the Malherbe brothers joined Calgro Homes in 2003), in 1997 where he stayed until relocating to Johannesburg in 2000 in order to manage Calgro M3's affordable housing Marketing division.
In 2002 Sam felt it was time to try something of his own and founded Proptec (Pty) Ltd. Proptec initially focused purely on the affordable housing sector, but from 2007 Sam decided to focus his strong project management skills in the sectional title residential market and has since been working on numerous developments in Gauteng. Sam has, in his career, successfully completed numerous full- and sectional-title as well as numerous affordable housing projects. Sam joined Urban. Dev Property Development (Pty) Ltd in July 2019.
Gary White obtained his degree in architecture in 1991 and went on to achieve his master's degree in Urban Design in 1993. From 1994 to 1996 Gary worked at Safgro (Pty) Ltd as a marketing manager, where he gained substantial experience in the affordable housing market segment. Gary joined Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd as a director taking responsibility for marketing and sales. In 2003, Gary decided to start his own architectural and urban design practice, gwastudio which amalgamated with Holm Jordaan to form a new entity, NewUrban Architects and Urban designers.
Gary currently acts as an Urban Design Consultant for Calgro M3, along with various other property development companies such as HAD, JDA and Valumax. With a vision to promote strategies for Sustainable Urban Environments in Southern Africa and applying the principles of new urbanism in all the urban design initiatives he drives.
Gary received awards for excellent work by the Charter of New Urbanism (CNU), USA in 2006 for the design of the new urban community, Cabinda, in Angola and again in 2012 for the design of the new rural community, Verkykerskop, South Africa. Another award followed by CNU in 2018 for their publication of "African Drawn 100 cities". He has also been awarded further regional and national awards for architectural projects by the South African Institute of South Africa. Their firm has completed various projects successfully, piloting the first high density RDP projects and promoting Integrated development within the lower income sector of the market. He has used his expertise on projects ranging from policy establishment, best practice research and the design and monitoring on implementations. Gary also lectured at the University of Pretoria for 14 years as well as the Technical University of Tshwane for 21 years. Currently he lectures at the Urban Design Masters degree coarse at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Douw Steyn is a self-employed, professional Quantity Surveyor and obtained his BSc Quantity Surveying degree at the University of Pretoria. After his studies, Douw was employed at ESKOM as a senior Quantity Surveyor for period of 14 years, after which he joined his two brothers, Derek and Deon who already started a professional quantity surveying firm, C-A-L-C Quantity Surveyors in 1994. C-A-L-C was appointed as the quantity surveyors responsible for the development and construction of most of the Medicross Clinic developments on a national footprint.
Derek and Deon also formed a residential property development company called Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd in 1995. Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd, (company's name changed to Calgro M3 after the Malherbe brothers joined Calgro Homes in 2003), core functions were the development and construction of residential units in the affordable housing market as well as the mid-income cluster market. Calgro grew and expanded to the point that the company was listed on the JSE stock exchange in 2007 under the name Calgro M3 Holdings Limited. Calgro M3 has since been a driving force in large scale integrated housing developments in the country. After listing the company, Douw decided to resign from corporate business and started a smaller housing and development company called DB5 Developments and Projects (Pty) Ltd. DB5 Developments and Projects has been running successfully since it started in 2008, having completed projects in areas such as Soshanguve, Jukskei View and Mabopane
Deon Steyn graduated from the University of the Orange Free State with a BSc Quantity Surveying degree in 1990 and was registered as a Professional Quantity Surveyor in 1994 after working for Farrow Laing and Partners for 3 years.
In 1994, Deon, and his brother Derek, started a professional quantity surveying firm, C-A-L-C Quantity Surveyors. C-A-L-C was appointed as the quantity surveyors responsible for the development and construction of most of the Medicross Clinic developments on a national footprint. Deon and Derek also formed a residential property development company called Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd in 1995. Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd, (company's name changed to Calgro M3 after the Malherbe brothers joined Calgro Homes in 2003), core functions were the development and construction of residential units in the affordable housing market as well as the mid-income cluster market. Calgro grew and expanded to the point that the company was listed on the JSE stock exchange in 2007 under the name Calgro M3 Holdings Limited. Calgro M3 has since been a driving force in large scale integrated housing developments in the country.
During his tenure at Calgro M3 Deon was the Chief Operating Officer on extensive projects under taken by Calgro M3. In March 2019, Deon decided to semi-retire from the corporate environment and was appointed as a consultant for Calgro M3 Developments Limited to fulfil a strategic and mentorship role. Deon is still a major shareholder in Calgro M3 Holdings Limited. Deon joined Urban.Dev Property Development (Pty) Ltd in July 2019.
Derek Steyn graduated from the University of the Orange Free State with a BSC Quantity Surveying in 1989 and worked for Eskom from 1990 to 1991 after which he was appointed as senior project manager for a residential development company called Safrich (Pty) Ltd.
In 1994, Derek, and his brother Deon, started a professional quantity surveying firm, C-A-L-C Quantity Surveyors. C-A-L-C was appointed as the quantity surveyors responsible for the development and construction of most of the Medicross Clinic developments on a national footprint. Derek and Deon also formed a residential property development company called Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd in 1995. Calgro Homes (Pty) Ltd, (company's name changed to Calgro M3 after the Malherbe brothers joined Calgro Homes in 2003), core functions were the development and construction of residential units in the affordable housing market as well as the mid-income cluster market. Calgro grew and expanded to the point that the company was listed on the JSE stock exchange in 2007 under the name Calgro M3 Holdings Limited. Calgro M3 has since been a driving force in large scale integrated housing developments in the country. During his tenure at Calgro M3, Derek was solely responsible for all new projects. Derek served as an Executive Director on the Board of Calgro M3 since date of listing in 2007 and in March 2019, Derek decided to semi-retire from the corporate environment and was appointed as a consultant for Calgro M3 Developments Limited to fulfil a strategic and mentorship role. Derek is still a major shareholder in Calgro M3 Holdings Limited. Derek started and formed Urban.Dev Property Developments (Pty) Ltd in March 2019.
