Neil Fraser
November 22, 2004
Over the past two weeks we've reviewed the northern and western sections of the inner city, now for the central area, from West to End Streets and from the M2 motorway in the south to Wolmarans Street just beyond the railway lines in the north. This year I'll keep the award of Bouquets and Brickbats mixed with Orchids and Onions to this Centre section!
Cida city campus
But to start with a slight detour as I left CIDA out of my western end overview last week. With the growing contribution that this dynamic organization is making to the inner city that would be unthinkable but they now do have a presence in the central inner city as well as their main campus in the western sector.
Under Taddy Blecher this must rank as one of the most innovative of South African institutions and is held up as the model in low-cost high quality tertiary education. Education is virtually free as almost all students are on scholarships funded by the private sector. Earlier this year, in October, the institution gained full accreditation for their Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
This is quite remarkable given the relatively short time they have been in business and means that students qualifications will be unconditionally accepted throughout the South African education and employment sectors allowing transference to and from other universities and international universities where our accreditation system is recognized. During August of this year their Bachelors in Business Administration Class of 2003 graduated at the first ever CIDA graduation.
So why go on about it relative to the inner city. Education institutions and students are important to the life of any city. Unfortunately Wits is hardly an inner city campus and has turned its back on the city although there are some plans to make its southern and eastern boundaries more permeable. CIDA on the other hand is not only an open inner city campus but actively engages with the inner city by using its students to run a variety of courses, for example to upgrade the marketing and management skills of informal traders, whilst also working in many formal inner city establishments for practical experience etc. Bouquet of Orchids for Taddy and the private sector supporters!
Now lets look at some of the Public Sector Projects in the center-city area.
Faraday Taxi Rank and Muti Market
The project has basically been completed during the year and I think it really looks good. There are still outstanding negotiations regarding adjacent taxi standing facilities and these should be finalized during 2005. However combi-taxis are still not ranking in the new facility but using the street below the elevated highway vacated by the muti sellers. This is due to the unresolved city council problem regarding combi-taxis paying ranking fees. If there is one single issue that is a major use of public space problem in the inner city (unfortunately there are a number!) it is the issue of combi-taxis. This needs to feature extremely high on the Executive Mayors to do list for 2005. The facility gets a bouquet, the taxi industry a bunch of onions!
Rissik Street Post Office
This fine but badly vandalized and rapidly deteriorating building is currently out on proposal call to anyone who may be interested in bringing it back to play a part in city life. One of the major hurdles is that the cost of repairing the facades and merely putting the building back into working order - that is, excluding refurbishment costs - is now three times higher than was the case when Provincial Government were about to take it over as the Premiers Office in 1995. Their reneging on that deal set the city back dramatically and is a mystery that one day I am going to unravel. I think Provincial Government and the City must share a whole bunch of onions!
Oppenheimer Park
Been there lately? If not, please don't!
A plan of the Parks Department to clean up what once was a fine public space seems to have been abandoned and the space is now disgusting. I see praises being heaped on the Parks Department for all kinds of excellent work they are evidently doing but that sure doesnt apply to Oppenheimer Park. It is an absolute disgrace that nothing is being done. A Pikitup truck load of onions!
Drill Hall
On the other hand, Council, through the JDA, has done a great job with this historic building on a limited budget. After years of neglect by Central Government, illegal squatting, a centre for criminal activity and fires that cost numerous lives and severely damaged the building, it is back in use, and useful, relevant use. It currently is showcasing an exhibition that mustn't be missed.
Initiated by the Market Photography Workshop in partnership with the Joubert Park Project, it showcases the results of a four-week photography workshop by 15 participants from this urban area focusing on the environment of the Drill Hall and their personal journey to Johannesburg. The results are evocative, surprising and inquisitive images that traverse the many faces this city confronts us with on a daily basis. A definite Bouquet!
Joubert Park
The Drill Hall leads us to the adjacent Joubert Park precinct. The surrounding area is not exactly conducive to attracting the numbers of people that its crown jewel, the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) deserves.
This great public building, designed by Edwin Lutyens and established in 1910, houses one of the best collections of African art in the world plus many more gems. Perceptions of the area are however such that many people are nervous of visiting it. Under recently appointed curator, Clive Kellner, there is a great deal of new activity happening but it could be so much more of a draw if the public environment was only dealt with. Council do have a plan to deal with the taxis and informal trading but it is going to need something substantially more than that for the precinct to become fully functional.
Well, such an intervention could be on the cards fairly shortly, in fact maybe more than one, so watch this space! Just to give you an idea of what JAG is currently offering; Making waves a collection of 180 works by 100 artists from the SABC collection that reflects the patterns and trends that shaped South African art over the last century; Suadade of Hope an exhibition of works by African photographers; a solo exhibition by Nathaniel Stern, The Storytellers; another solo exhibition, by Nadia Taljaard, The Child Within. Good stuff orchids for JAG and Clive Kellner, a carrot strategically placed for the Council.
Informal Trading Stall Roll-out
I have never been able to understand why Council has previously never treated informal trading as a priority. It is one of the most visual aspects of the chaos of the city's public environment thereby highlighting a severe lack of management. I am sympathetic to the plight of the informal sector and to those battling to eke out a subsistence wage. But for too long this has been held out to be the reason why no action should be taken to provide proper accommodation for this sector.
Like the taxi industry, the informal trading sector seems to believe that it is above the law. The project to roll out trading stalls is thus long overdue and I believe will make a massive difference to the city's public environment. Added to this will be a concerted training programme.
A bouquet for the EDU and MTC and a whole street of onion-laden stalls for the informal trading associations for their obstruction and obfuscation.
Fashion District
A great deal of planning has gone into the area over this past year maybe too much planning and too little action! The beginnings of some new investment have been attracted to the area amongst which is Rees Manns Afsew Centre. But now is the time for action and next year will see the establishment of a Fashion District Institution which will take the lead in moving the project forward including a CID for the clean and safe public management element. A wilted orchid wrapped in African print!
High Court Precinct
Planning for the upgrading of the this area is now well advanced although it has run into major delays due to possible changes in ownership of one of the buildings critical to the plan. January will see construction work starting. Award withheld!
Provincial Government Precinct
It is now almost exactly a year since the Gauteng Premier announced the R300-00 million acquisition by the Provincial Government of 18 centre-city buildings and the creation of a Provincial Government Precinct. And it is eleven months since comments had to be submitted to the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) regarding the proposals to demolish certain of these, those with heritage status, in order to create an enlarged public open space.
Other than a statement made in July that the national treasury had given the go-ahead for the private sector to provide the finance in a PPP deal, we have been deafened by silence. In answer to the objections of the total lack of public consultation, no consultation! In answer to the objections to the proposed demolition of heritage buildings and to the criticism of the design of the space that is being planned, zilch, niks, nada!
I certainly had hoped that SAHRA would have provided a platform or an opportunity for some robust public debate but the project seems to have gone underground which is of great concern. Are the citizens of the city going to be treated to a fait accompli or are the authorities going to be pay more than lip service to the doctrines of honesty, openness and transparency?
For their decision to consolidate in the inner city, Provincial Government gets a large bouquet; for the process thereafter well replace it with a large bag of onions mixed with brickbats!
Gautrain
So, whilst we are on Provincial Government projects, what about Gautrain, another major initiative that will impact on the inner city? All I can glean is that the project is now running some six months behind its scheduled programme whilst a little bird tells me that estimated costs have sky-rocketed!
A progress update on the Gautrain web page provides the following information:
Gautrain Rapid Rail Link to be built in 2 phases and the estimated time for completion is 60 months:
- Phase 1: Sandton to Hatfield and Sandton to Johannesburg International Airport
- Time for completion: 42 months (3.5 years)
- Phase 2: Sandton to Johannesburg Park station
- Time for completion: 18 months (1.5 years)
The original date for commencement of construction was middle 2004. This would have meant that completion of Phase 1 was scheduled for end 2007 and Phase 2 middle 2009.
Construction will now most probably only commence early 2005 which means that Phase 1 will be completed by middle/end 2008 and Phase 2 beginning/middle 2010.
There is thus a delay of about 6 months on the project. This is mainly due to the EIA that took longer than what was anticipated.
Whilst one can move construction programmes about at will, one cant move the date for the 2010 Soccer World Cup so that a Phase 2 (which is the one that interests us) completion most probably...beginning middle 2010 looks ominously doubtful.
Just last week in Otis Whites Civic Strategies e-letter he talks about The Big Dig, the monumental freeway project routing freeway traffic under downtown Boston. He describes it as a marvel, an expensive marvel, to be sure, at $14.6 billion but a marvel nevertheless.
But it's a marvel with a few holes in it. To state highway officials' horror, the Big Dig's main tunnel has started springing hundreds of leaks. Most of the leaks are small but one was so great in September that it backed up traffic on Interstate 93 for miles, and the volume of water from all the leaks is far greater than anyone anticipated. In the past 11 months, 26 million gallons have seeped out of the walls and into the Big Dig's drains; engineers had anticipated about 500,000 gallons in drainage a year.
Gets worse: Fixing all the leaks might take 10 years or more, consultants say; just fixing September's big leak may take two months and involve rerouting traffic. In some stretches, state officials say, entire sections of the tunnel might have to be replaced. So what went wrong with the Big Dig?
Contractors say nothing went wrong. "In a tunnel of this construction type, seepage is inevitable," said one contractor in a statement.
The Big Dig escalation in cost from original estimates as well as the construction time extension were frightening. I think we may be in for some interesting times with Gautrain! No award, just a watching brief at this stage!
Well let's go to the private sector for some good news!
Main Street Mall
The contractors have handed over the mall, which is complete except for snagging and a number of major aspects that relate to the mining theme. These are, firstly, the headgear that is to be on permanent display - this will happen over the Christmas period when the city is quieter. Then there is the Mapungubwe and other pre-1886 mining displays, which are being planned at present and will probably start taking shape in mid-2005 and, finally, the mining museum which is also being looked at for 2005.
The redesigned street with its wide pavements and historic mining artifacts is already attracting great interest from pavement coffee shops and restaurants.
Ninos will be opening on Hollard Square this coming Monday and a Christmas Market will be held from 22 to 28 November. If you haven't visited the Main Street Mall, you are missing out on something a great addition to the cityscape. Both the private and public sector (the latter for their support through the JDA) should take a bow and a Bouquet!
AAC parking garage
A new parking garage for Anglo is being planned in Marshall Street just south of their existing campus, should start happening in 05, award pending.
Carlton Centre
With the office section at in excess of 95% let for quite some time now, owners Transnet/Propnet have been focusing, with a great deal of success, on the retail component. One of the big problems that the design of the multi-level underground retail has always faced has been the very deep space over three floors on the southern side of the project that originally was occupied by OK Bazaars.
Within the last few months these have all been filled, the lowest level by SARS (5000 sq metres) above them Pick n Pay (2200 sq metres) and, at ground level, the space is now occupied by a gym that appears to be doing extremely well.
A spokesperson tells me that for the first time in years there is a waiting list of retailers wanting space in the complex. All that is left therefore is the hotel and I know that there have been protracted discussions with a number of groups in relation to opening an hotel facility albeit far smaller than previously. With 2010 just down the road, it would strike me that timing is getting critical. Definitely an Orchid.
ABSA Campus
The parking garage for ABSA staff was completed during the year. A bouquet for retiring absa property holdings CEO, Dr. Gert Dry for the part he has played in consolidating ABSAs presence in the inner city.
Standard Bank
Drove through their campus and construction progress on the new 1800 bay parking facility is well advanced and of course the pedestrian bridge that connects to 25 Sauer (the previous Alexander Forbes building) visually reflects the progress made in upgrading and incorporating that building into the bank complex.
Apart from the R120 million being spent on these two projects, the Bank is spending a further R72 million on its energy centre that will protect the entire campus from public sector energy outages. Although only a small part of the overall budget, it is really pleasing to know that the Art Gallery is not forgotten and that it is also undergoing a R7 million upgrade. That moves it from an Orchid to a whole Bouquet award!
Residential
Lastly, one of the most exciting resurgences in the city-centre has been that of residential accommodation. Currently it lies at two levels. The middle income regeneration that seems to have Jeppe Street as its epicentre and then the higher income developments on its southern and western edges.
Renney Plit from AFHCO (Affordable Housing Company) tells me that his organization is working on some 300 units at present in the area bounded by Jeppe and Plein and between Eloff and von Wielligh Streets.
He confidently anticipates that this number will rise to three times that amount within three years. Their target market is in the earning range of R3000 to R8000 per month and he says that this market is huge. They are currently finishing off 125 apartments in the historic Castle Mansions.
In October I reported on the Vuselela joint venture between Old Mutual Properties and Alec and Geoffrey Wapnicks City Properties. The refurbishment of the first of their joint projects, 150 Jeppe Street, Plaza Place (formerly New Plaza) has started 211 units comprising bachelor and 1 and 2 bedroom units with retail on the ground floor. A further three residential refurbishment projects are scheduled to follow in the New Year.
On the Urban Ocean front, Alfonso Botha says that selling is well advanced on their Corner House, 1 Rissik Street and Franklin projects and they will be bringing a number of other projects to the market place next year.
So an orchid for each of the residential developers.
