Neil Fraser
November 17, 2003
AS in the previous two year-end overviews we first take a consolidated look at a specific element of current revitalisation efforts - this time residential accommodation.
Residential, was following but now starting to lead renewal!
Some years ago Witold Rybczynski, Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania in an address to a convention in Las Vegas mused about "what kind of cities we need" and in doing so provided a simple but meaningful definition of cities "We come together in cities for specific reasons" he said.
"Some of these reasons are the same as they always were, some are different. We come to cities to work. Not, perhaps, to assemble cars or to sew dresses, or to build locomotives, but to do brain work. Cities continue to be the best places for financial work, communications work, and much research work. Creative and artistic work likewise flourishes in cities. So, we need cities with educated workforces that can support these industries. We also come to cities to play, to rub shoulders, to exchange ideas, simply to be part of a crowd (whether we are going to a museum, an Imax theatre or a casino). What we need are cities where we can do these things safely and pleasurably. Urban activities require an urban infrastructure. We need cities that work, in terms of education, policing, transportation, sanitation. We also need cities with districts that are vital. We are learning that much of urban vitality comes from the physical proximity of commercial, retail, and especially residential uses. These types of districts - some have called them 24 hour downtowns - are another characteristic of the type of city we need."
What was that? "We are learning that much of urban vitality comes from the physical proximity of … especially residential uses … another characteristic of the type of city we need". Residential uses.
Some years later Rybczynski developed this theme further but issued some caveats. "There are other ingredients for urban vitality," he said, "there is the issue of critical mass. It does take a certain number of people to support a competitive residential infrastructure (e.g. supermarkets, hardware stores, bookstores, bakeries, shoe repairs, a variety of restaurants)."
As an aside, I was lunching with Ian Fife, property journalist and another city apassionata earlier this week (at the Herbert Baker - who says the inner city doesn't have great restaurants!) and his theory is that you need enough people living in a precinct to be able to make a delicatessen sustainable! I like that!)
Then there is the issue of density - "Manhattan, the quintessential 24 hour place, has a density of more than 80 people an acre, San Francisco at 24 probably is on the threshold for a viable 24 hour city - if people are too spread out their effect on street life will be negligible. When gross density drops to suburban levels (below 10 persons per acre) people are living too far apart to create the requisite urban atmosphere."
The third issue is market share - "a downtown that is a negligible fraction of the entire city is a small fish in a very big pond and is likely to be overshadowed by surrounding urban neighbourhoods and suburbs."
So hold on to all of that and let's look at what has been happening in this sector as the city seriously moves to achieving the critical mass, density and market share. Here's how we're doing.
In April 2001 we detailed the housing activity at that time in the city and concluded "Two companies (JHC and COPE) spending nearly R200 million on 2 643 residential conversions, upgrading and new units translating into in excess of 5 000 more people to be properly housed in the inner city - great stuff!"
Since then, Citichat has reported, firstly, on projects now completed:
Tribunal Gardens - 148 units; Elangeni - 168 units; Lake Success - 140 units; Troyeville Co-Operative Housing - 120 units; Tswelopele Housing Co-operative - 54 units, etc etc; secondly on projects either currently under construction or due to be started shortly;
"The Refinery" - 30+ lofts in Milpark and more residential accommodation planned in the Gasworks project; the Brickfields project in Newtown - 647 units in phase 1; Constitution Hill - 110 units to be refurbed from the historic Queen Vic Maternity Hospital; MetroMall -between 160 and 250 units; 9 lofts at the Mills in Newtown; the exciting refurb of Corner House into stunning centre city apartments as well as the old Stuttafords building and a host of other conversions and refurbs being undertaken by small entrepreneurs, consortia of investors and some MAJOR investors (the largest housing developer/owner in Pretoria has acquired a number of buildings in the Johannesburg city centre)
Then there is the Council's Better Buildings Programme which will result in possibly over a hundred existing residential buildings in the inner city being upgraded and refurbished by the private sector over the next few years.
Finally, student accommodation. I know that some 5 000 student beds are being planned over the next two years in Braamfontein whilst on the other side of the city the CIDA City Campus has accommodation needs for 10 000 students by 2010.
Investment value, all private sector, is probably currently between R500 million and a billion!
Back to the overall review - and a look at what is and has happened on the south-western, southern, eastern and north-eastern perimeter of the inner city.
Standard Bank Centre
Standard Bank Centre is situated on the south-western edge of the city centre. It represents a major investment in the City by this group having opened their first branch in 1886. In 1982 the first building in the "super-block" was opened at 6 Simmonds Street. In 1990, 5 Simmonds Street was completed and became the bank's head office. The bank's merchant banking arm, Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank opened its new head office at 3 Simmonds Street in 1996.
The bank is currently injecting a further R197-million as it consolidates and upgrades its properties in this area of the city.
The bank will lease 25 Sauer Street, and upgrade it at a cost of R97-million to make it conform to the bank's corporate functional requirements. The property comprises seven storeys and is 19 521 sq metres in size. It will house about twelve hundred bank staff and has 658 parking bays. Renovations will start in March and will take about six months. The building will be linked to 5 Simmonds Street via a skywalk across Sauer Street.
The bank has also started building a R42 million parking garage next to 3 Simmonds Street to cater for their staff's parking needs. This will complement the bank's other parking garage in Thorpe Street. Work should be completed within a year. It will comprise at least 1000 bays with staff having preferential use. A secure walkway will link this parkade to 3 Simmonds Street. The parkade will add new life to the precinct and several old and rundown buildings are being demolished to make way for it.
In addition, R58 million is to be spent on a no-break power supply facility.
These projects are all aimed at consolidating the bank's head office in four buildings: 5, 6 and 3 Simmonds Street and 25 Sauer Street and the buildings house about 10 000 employees.
Faraday
Travel due east along the southern edge of the centre city from the Standard Bank Centre and you will discover an area of extreme contrast. The high tech of modern banking headquarters gives way to an area tucked under the overhead Motorway currently informally housing the dispensers of traditional medicines, the traditional healers, the inyangas and sangomas.
The constituents of the traditional medicines are neatly stacked over an enormous area under the M2 highway - animal products such as skins, heads and bones which are used mainly for warding off evil spirits after being ground and burnt and then dozens of different herbs, plants and roots which are generally ingested to combat impurities in the body. But there is also counselling and herbs for those who need help to improve their financial situation, or for those needing confidence when being interviewed for a new job and for those seeking to improve their sexual performance (including a local liquid equivalent of Viagra which looks suspiciously like old engine oil, no I haven't tasted it!)
The R42 million Faraday station special facility project that is in its final stages of completion was planned to recognise (I think that better encapsulates the objective than 'formalise') the activities of the area by providing good facilities such as waiting and consulting rooms for the traditional healers and dispensers and also for the display and selling of their products. But it will also acknowledge and provide facilities for and consolidate the other formal and informal activities in the area related to taxis, buses and rail. The 'special facilities' therefore include:
- Facilities for commuters, taxi operators and drivers
- A market for traditional medicines and consulting and treatment rooms for traditional healers.
- A general informal trading market.
- A precinct or neighbourhood centre including offices for precinct management, meeting and training rooms for health workers and for environment and conservation, a visitor's and security centre.
- Public open space with a small retail component
- Environmental upgrade of existing pavements and provision of new pedestrian spaces, safety measures and amenities.
- A taxi industry service and retail centre with formal retail space for spares and parts, services and food.
Mai Mai
Keep traveling due east, and we enter kwa-Mai Mai. The 2.4-hectare kwa-Mai Mai is situated at the intersection of Anderson and Berea Streets next to the M2 Anderson Street off-ramp. Its roots go back to the 1920s when a migrant workers' compound was built at the southern end of Delvers Street and the residents were encouraged to make and sell various handcrafts. The resultant bazaar and the compound itself became known as Mai Mai, the origin of the name however appears to be lost in conflicting stories.
It moved to its current site in 1940 where it consisted of 250 stalls, 10 shops, a beer-hall and compound/hostel. The latter and a number of stalls and shops were demolished in 1964 to accommodate new road construction. However the remainder of the complex deteriorated over the years and competition in the form of cheaper versions of its goods - traditional African cultural items - negatively impacted on its viability.
In 1997 the community obtained public sector funding for the redevelopment of the Bazaar. The 'community' is about 600 strong, including children, and is predominantly Zulu speaking. The majority live above the trading areas. Apart from traditional manufacture of African goods such as traditional Zulu bridal kists or umabo (bridal gifts) coffins, pelmets and furniture, traditional crafts of stick making and weaving of sleeping mats, and the manufacture of traditional clothing, the Bazaar houses a number of Sangomas and Inyangas who diagnose and dispense medication for the treatment of sickness or protection against illness and evil.
Now we move north to another specialist precinct of a very different nature. This is Jewel City, a relatively new development in the life of the city having been established by private sector interests within the last decade and stimulated by the deregulation in the mining industry through the mining charter.
Jewel City
Jewel City covers six city blocks bordered by Commissioner Street, the M2 Heidelberg Road on-ramp, Main Street and the M2 Siemert Street on-ramp. It lies south of Doornfontein and is in a fairly run-down area mostly related to the motor industry, panel beating, radiator repairs, workshops, etc. So the activities within Jewel City's high tech security perimeter will come as something of a surprise to those who didn't know of its existence. It houses numerous gem businesses employing approximately 1500 skilled cutters, three diamond exporter/forwarding businesses as well as:
- The Diamond Board - the regulatory arm for the industry largely self-funding through licences and levies
- A Diamond Bourse - This is a certified clearing house/market place for all diamonds and is one of only four established Bourses in SA (the others are all in Kimberley).
- The Harry Oppenheimer Training School - About 45 students in gem cutting etc can be accommodated at a time.
- Various diamond associations. eg Diamond Merchants' Association, Rough Diamond Master Cutters' Association, IDASA, and Jewellery Council.
There is an auditorium that shows videos on the industry and tours are offered to the various jewellery and jewel crafts showrooms where purchases can be made.
Jewel City attracts as many as 500 visitors a day and most of these wanting to purchase diamonds and jewellery.
Jewel City has a turnover of R500-million per month of which a high percentage relates to the export market. The project probably reflects a private sector investment of R50-million.
Part of the revitalisation process in the city is to stimulate and support area-based economic development initiatives throughout the Johannesburg metropolitan area in support of Joburg 2030, the city's long-term economic vision. Jewel City thus provides a great opportunity to further entrench the city in the Creative Industries through leveraging the existing private sector investment by examining how the scope of what is being done can be extended; increasing its attraction as a tourist node and looking to house its employees nearby.
Moving east again to what was once an important retail and light industrial node, but which deteriorated greatly over the past two to three decades, Jeppestown.
Jeppe Station precinct project
The Jeppe Station precinct project is located east of the city centre, between McIntyre, Gus, Commissioner and Main Streets - John Page Drive slashes diagonally across the precinct. The redevelopment project, completed at the beginning of this year at a cost of R8 million, has the following components:
A taxi facility which serves commuters, taxi operators, ranking committee and taxi drivers; an 8 island linear taxi rank allocated to 3 taxi associations; 80 formalised street markets / vendor stalls ranging from food to barber and general trading stalls; a public open space situated on the east side of the precinct used for public meetings, social gatherings, concerts and general public related functions.
The project concept was to consolidate development around the Jeppe Rail Station in order to encourage economic investment. Thus people who commute by train pass through the market building supporting the informal traders. The taxi commuters pass in front of the station building through the square and into the taxi rank. This movement of commuters will stimulate further trading around the periphery of the square.
Greater Ellis Park
The Greater Ellis Park Project focuses on the Ellis Park Sport Precinct with its world-class rugby and athletics stadia, Standard Bank arena, tennis courts, swimming pool etc as well as the badly degraded Bertrams residential area and Doornfontein with its education facilities. The Project aims to stabilise the area; address the collapse of the housing areas and promote new housing development; promote economic development, and strengthen and promote the area as a major destination focusing on sports and related entertainment.
Specifically it is planned to:
- Upgrade the public environment from Doornfontein Station to the Sports Precinct to create safe access and improve crowd management through creation of a public walk-way;
- Upgrade public spaces in Doornfontein, including the development of a new public square;
- Upgrade the Sports Precinct including developing the public spaces within the precinct for passive recreational activities, securing the area to reduce crime and providing additional parking in the area;
- Re-developing the source of the Juskei River;
- Upgrading the public environment and streets in Bertrams including developing a new access point to the Sports Precinct at Bertrams and Derby Roads; and
- Upgrading vehicular, and specially taxi, access to and holding in the area.
There is a budget of about R70-million at this stage but if we get the World Soccer Cup, or maybe I should say, when, watch this project grow - there is no way that Bertrams and the residential component of Doornfontein can be allowed to continue degenerating and no way that it can be allowed to remain in its present state and the World Cup will be a great stimulus for serious regeneration. The project is being handled by Sibusiso Buthelezi at the JDA.
Moving north again and we come to a number of other severely distressed areas, the residential suburbs of Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville.
Hillbrow and Berea
Over the past two years a programme known as the Hillbrow/Berea Regeneration Initiative has been quietly working amongst the community defining needs and exploring a wide variety of possibilities. Vernon Openshaw, who previously led the Jounbert Park Precinct Pilot Project, has been heading up this initiative but has recently been appointed project manager of the Community Outreach Project of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Hillbrow so will continue to be involved in the regeneration efforts for the area.
Another project that will begin to play an-ever increasing role in the regeneration of this area is the Council's Better Building Programme. In terms of the programme the Council has identified buildings where the owners owe large amounts of arrears in rates and/or service costs or where owners have abandoned the buildings or where buildings are derelict, overcrowded or in a deplorable state, or invaded by illegal squatters or used for criminal activity (or all the above!). These buildings will be made available to developers basically at no or little cost for redevelopment and reintegration into the economic mainstream of society. Seven buildings have already been awarded for redevelopment, a further fifteen are currently being processed whilst the full number of identified buildings exceeds a hundred. One of the buildings, the previous Europa Hotel, will be used as a temporary relocation facility for people affected by he process.
Ultimately this programme will involve many tens if not hundreds of millions of rands of private sector investment. For more info on the Better Builings Programme contact Geoff Mendelowitz of Joburg Property Company.
Yeoville
Yeoville, a neighbourhood on the north east of the centre city, is another area that has seen better times but is being included as part of the city's High Street programme and will ultimately form part of Alexandra/Hillbrow link project. At the moment only seed money for investigation has been made available but ultimately this project will attract more funding and private investment should follow.
Scorecard on this week's review, excluding all the housing, R125-million from the public sector, R250-million from the private.
We started this review in the centre of the northern perimeter of the city centre. We moved around to the west, then the southern perimeter, east and joined up to where we started. We've created a doughnut and next week we'll fill in the centre where there is lots of exciting news.
