China’s Shanghai Zendai Property plans to break ground in 2015 on Modderfontein, an $8-billion, 4,000-acre new development it’s calling “a city” near the Johannesburg commercial hub of Sandton, its chairman said Wednesday, according to a Reuters report.

Chinese companies have been building roads and infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa for years. Shanghai Zendai’s project will be among the largest real estate deals by a Chinese firm in South Africa.

Shanghai Zendai agreed in 2013 to buy the land for around $100 million from AECI, a South African commercial explosives company, Reuters reports. AECI sold the bulk of its surplus property in Modderfontein and its property development business to the Chinese developer, EProp reports.

Modderfontein New City will include housing for 100,000 people, schools, offices, a light industrial park and entertainment. It is expected to take at least 15 years to complete.

The development will see $280 million in infrastructure spending in the next three years, with initial construction to focus on homes and schools, Shanghai Zendai Chairman Zhikang Dai said at a news conference in Johannesburg.

Given Zendai’s market capitalization of only about $250 million in Hong Kong‚ it would be punching well above its weight should its development plans materialize, according to a report in EProp. Moody’s said the firm faced difficulties in improving its contracted sales due to its “limited financial flexibility” and lackluster sales for projects in low-tier cities.

The development will be located 3.3 miles from Sandton and four miles from South Africa’s main international airport, according to Reuters. It is also near Alexandra township.

Described as an international residential community, the project may attract some of the estimated 300,000 Chinese living in South Africa, Reuters reports.

Nomvula Mokonyane, premier of South Africa’s Gauteng province including Johannesburg and the capital of Pretoria, said she hopes local residents will benefit from jobs and housing from the new construction.