By Lucille Davie
JOHANNESBURG'S inner city has turned into a "massive construction site" as business confidence returns to the once-ailing urban centre, says regional director Yakoob Makda. Makda was speaking at a Newtown function at which senior City officials discussed the area's rejuvenation with potential investors.
Johannesburg Development Agency CEO Graeme Reid said rentals are stabilising, vacancy rates are dropping and business confidence levels are up 32 percent. Progress is being made in creating a 24-hour city with evening audience attendance figures in Newtown up 73 percent and daytime visitors up 67 percent.
Said Reid: "AngloGold is moving into Newtown, the Johannesburg Art Gallery will be moving to the Turbine Hall, but there's still 15 000m² of space available for development in Newtown." He described the progress made in several inner city suburbs, saying that the JDA was busy "creating platforms" for the private sector to move in with their investment capital.
The Gautrain is going to have "a major impact" on the city centre, he said, as it is the first stop for the high-speed train to Pretoria and the Johannesburg International Airport that is due to be completed in 2010. Reid said that with the Gautrain, "Johannesburg has an opportunity to redress the historically poor public transport system". The national government will be investing R3-billion in transport improvements across South Africa, he added.
Reid said the greater Ellis Park area in Doornfontein, including the neighbouring suburb of Bertrams, was available for student accommodation investments, with thousands of students looking for accommodation. Referring to the Doornfontein area as "an undiscovered gem", Reid said: "The investment by the public sector will ensure that the area is well-managed." He stressed that the public sector would back private sector investors with strict by-law enforcement and urban management. There are plans to make Ellis Park an "international sports precinct", particularly with the approach of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Other investment areas he noted are:
- Rockey and Raleigh streets in Yeoville, with retail and accommodation possibilities.
- Some 40 000m² of space available for development at Constitution Hill
- ; The Fashion District at the eastern edge of the inner city, which accommodates 200 firms, employs 1 000 workers and generates an annual turnover of R120-million.
A block-by-block survey of around 3 000 buildings in Region 8 has been completed and, from the survey, 52 buildings have been identified as worthy of redevelopment, primarily in Hillbrow and Berea.
So far 25 contracts with developers have been signed and 22 buildings have been purchased by the Johannesburg Property Company. Some 3 164 family units have just been renovated, with seven buildings under renovation, and another two buildings nearing completion. The expected monthly rentals from these units is R2-million.
Over the 2003 and 2004 period, 74 high court orders were obtained against owners of rundown buildings, with 45 orders being brought against owners in 2004 and 2005 so far. Some 689 notices have been issued against owners whose buildings Cowan described as "sinkholes" - buildings that are slums, abandoned, overcrowded and poorly maintained.
The R98-million Brickfields residential development, which is nearing completion, sees the first such investment in the inner city in 20 years, said Cowan. The Europa Hotel, formerly a den of crime and prostitution in Hillbrow, has been transformed into a transitional shelter, providing emergency relief for 120 people for several days, allowing for a maximum stay of up to two years. It is to open at the end of July this year.
Another perennial problem, street trading in breach of municipal by laws, is being brought under control with more management on the streets. Some 467 hawker stands have been erected in Plein, Bree and Jeppe streets, and prospective hawkers have been issued with trading licences, which oblige them to comply with by-laws.
Bethlehem referred to the introduction of the Urban Development Zones (UDZs), announced by the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, in 2004. The UDZs offer tax incentives to encourage inner city development. Initially the UDZs were for Johannesburg and Cape Town only, but later were extended to other cities.
Johannesburg, she said, has been granted an area two and a half times larger than Cape Town. The Johannesburg UDZ covers an area of 1 800 hectares, extending from Vrededorp in the west to Benrose in the east, from Louis Botha Avenue in the north to the M2 in the south. This area has been divided into six zones, and the western zones are doing particularly well, she said.
Developers working in the zones are to be given special tax incentives. This applies to both those renting and those refurbishing property, even if only sectional title properties. These incentives apply to properties bought after 14 October 2004, but any income earned by the investor would be also eligible. "This is a very innovative incentive," Bethlehem added.
In the meantime, the process of identifying companies that own rundown, unkempt buildings, continues. "We will be naming and shaming these companies in the future," she said, after repeated efforts to get them to do something about these "bad" buildings.
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