Welcome to Sicitur Consultants !
About Sicitur Consultants
Sicitur ( Sic Itur ) is Latin for " Thus is the Way " and refers to the manner and direction to take in order to succeed - succeed in business but also in your personal life.
Sicitur Consultants is a property consultancy business established by Walter Hart in early 2010. Initially based in Cape Town, South Africa, Walter has used his experience in setting up and running real estate businesses in South Africa, and Internationally, to establish "Realtor of Excellence " on the Westcoast of South Africa, and to manage the sales of units in the Langebaan Manor Retirement and Lifestyle Estate in Langebaan.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
- Strong in leadership and team management skills
- International real estate marketing and sales
- Real estate development and marketing strategies
- Leasing of office, retail and industrial real estate
- Specialised expertise in property project marketing and sales
QUALIFICATIONS
- Property Development Programme ( SAPOA – 1998 )
- Dip. in Advanced Property Practice ( 1990 )
- South African Estate Agents Board Exam. ( 1987 )
- Dip. Marketing Management ( DAMELIN – 1987 )
- Dip. Sales Management ( Cape Town Chamber of Comm. - 1985)
Walter Hart started his career in property selling plots of land in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1977 in what was to become the prestigious Camps Bay area. This initial entry to the property industry lead to a position as Property Manager at Old Mutual Properties in Johannesburg, Southern Africa’s biggest property investment, development and management company.
After successfully managing an industrial portfolio of around USD 20 million, Walter transferred into Investment Acquisitions and was responsible for identifying, negotiating and purchasing properties to enhance and build the company’s overall portfolio.
An opportunity then arose for Walter to start up and develop a commercial agency business in Cape Town for a major well established real estate agency company, Steer & Co, which later merged with another commercial agency to become Realty1 Commercial, which he headed up for three years until being enticed back to the corporate sector at Old Mutual Properties.
This move saw him promoted to the Executive Management of the company as National Leasing and Marketing Manager, with responsibility for the leasing of the countrywide portfolio of the company of some 40 million square feet of space.
In this capacity Walter was involved in the marketing campaigns and the launch of some of South Africa’s most successful shopping centres, industrial parks, and commercial buildings.
As a member of the Executive Committee Walter was an integral part of the decision making process for the acquisition, development, or disposal of properties within the portfolio.
In 1999 Walter became an independent consultant advising property funds on their acquisition strategies and securing appropriate investments for these public listed funds.
In May 2003 Walter moved to Dubai to take up a position as International Marketing Manager for a leading property developer, Damac Properties, but soon identified a broader opportunity to provide sales and marketing services to developers in the UAE.
He established a real estate marketing and sales consultancy company in Dubai Media City called “The Agency” in February 2004. The first consultancy contract was with the Better Homes Property Group, a leading real estate company in Dubai, to set up and develop the Project Sales & Marketing Division, which handled the marketing campaigns and sales launch of close to 40 residential development projects between 2004 and mid 2007. Sales in 2006 exceeded AED 750 million ( US$ 200 million ).
Walter developed this new business unit from ground zero to a closely knit and highly professional team of around 30 plus persons, offering marketing consultancy and sales services to a wide range of developers. These services were packaged to provide developers with a spectrum of offerings, from consulting with architects on the basic design and product mix of new developments, to product positioning and pricing, target marketing and data base management, design and presentation of marketing collateral, new product launches and PR campaigns, international and local exhibitions, sales strategy and structure, recruitment and management of the project sales team.
The next assignment was with the major developer, the Tourism Development and Investment Company of Abu Dhabi ( TDIC ), where he has consulted on the establishment of a Client Services division, and the initial sales launch of the prestigious Saadiyat Island project, a luxury high-value residential estate built around a Gary Player designed golf course. After a six month set-up and sales training preparation period, the sales launch took place in mid 2008 with massive success, with revenues exceeding AED 3.2 Billion ( $ 872 Million ) in 3 weeks.
He then undertook a brief advisory role to the Dubai World Trade Centre on two major developments that they were constructing to expand their exhibition capacity as well as to tap into the growing demand for commercial and retail space in Dubai.
In late 2008 he established an office for the Mercantile Group ( UK ) to launch the Chesterton Real Estate brand in the region. As Managing Director he was to staff up offices and get systems in place to provide a full range of real estate services, and to develop the marketing campaign to position the company as one of the top real estate groups in the region. The first office in Abu Dhabi was opened and is operational. However, due to the global downturn the parent company decided to suspend further investment.
Following this TDIC invited Walter to rejoin them to assist to further develop the Client Services division to establish a Client Relationship Management programme, and general after sales services. To this end Walter created an organisation structure, road mapped policies and procedures, recruited staff on behalf of TDIC, and implemented the initial stages of the assignment.
Walter has, inter alia, specialised in the identification of product positioning and branding in a highly competitive market, developed marketing strategies and sales plans, co-ordinated the creation and production of appropriate marketing collateral, worked with Project Management and Architectural consultants to define best design elements, managed the launch of new projects, and the sales team and processes needed to achieve effective results. Target markets have been local as well as international, and select international exhibitions have been used to promote sales. In this role he has had to understand the development criteria of various projects and work with finance and legal departments to achieve project feasibility objectives.
In 2010 Walter returned to Cape Town, where he renovated a house in Camps Bay into a 4 Star Guesthouse, which he sold in 2013. He spent a short consultancy period with the Steer Property Services Group before starting his own business consultancy called “ Sicitur Consultancy “. This consultancy specialises in advising on strategies and tactical plans for the real estate market. An appointment to the Rawson Property Group in May 2016 enabled the expansion of their franchise network.
In early 2017 a decision was made to move to the Westcoast and to live in Langebaan. A licence was acquired from the Realtor of Excellence Property Group for this region, and the new business was commenced in July 2017. Walters wife, Isabella, has joined the business as a residential sales agent, whilst Walter concentrates on the sales of units in the Langebaan Manor Retirement and Lifestyle Estate, Commercial and Industrial properties, and the Investment and Business market in this area. This area was selected due to Walters belief in the growth potential for business and industry in this zone, alongwith the attractiveness of the lifestyle.
HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
Walter is a keen sportsman, having represented his country at Waterpolo in 1980, and still maintains a regular swimming regime, ( crossing from Robben Island to the mainland in 1987, twice in 2016, and achieving the Double and Around the Island in 2017 ). He now swims regularly in the Langebaan Lagoon.
In mid 2009 Walter undertook a cross country bicycle journey through Vietnam and Cambodia to help raise funds for orphanages in those countries.
In January 2011 he climbed Mt. Weizmann ( 4620m ) in the Rwenzori Mountain Range of West Uganda, and has climbed different aspects of Table Mountain and the surrounding Cape mountain ranges..
He has trained to Brown Belt in Kimura Shukokai Karate ( 2012).
He and his wife, Isabella, undertake team triathlon events and have recently taken to kayak paddling.
FAMILY
Walter has a daughter of 27 who is employed in the financial services sector in Cape Town, and a son of 17, who is at Rondebosch Boys High.