June 18, 2007
By Neil Fraser
FOR some time concern has been expressed about the lack of activity in the area to the east of the centre city. To a large extent the concentration appears to have been on the other side of the core, namely to the west.
Certainly the development in and around Newtown has been spectacular and has strongly bolstered that edge of the centre city core. Starting with the redevelopment of Mary Fitzgerald Square in 2001, a large number of projects have followed and more are being planned for the near future.
Infrastructure projects that have been completed include Mary Fitzgerald Square, the Nelson Mandela Bridge and M1 on and off ramps, Metro Mall taxi rank and retail facility, the upgrading of the urban environment and the conversion of disused railway sidings into parking space, and, more recently, the completion of public toilets on Mary Fitzgerald Square.
Completed residential accommodation includes the Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) projects, Tribunal Gardens and Carr Gardens; and the Cope Housing development, all at the Fordsburg end of Newtown; and the JHC's Brickfields development at the city end.
Completed office or commercial developments, new and refurbished, include the new Number I Central Place, and refurbishments such as The Mills@Newtown; the Newtown Hotel by Numsa, the metalworkers' union; a building on the corner of Bree and Miriam Makeba streets; and, more recently, the construction of new offices for the Johannesburg Development Agency within the Bus Factory.
Oriental Plaza
The Oriental Plaza, at the western edge of Newtown, has also experienced major upgrading and refurbishing over the past few years, with a lot evidently still to come.
On the cultural front, work was done some years ago in accommodating the Dance Factory, Moving into Dance and the Midi Trust's Newtown Music Centre – now the Bassline. The first phase of the Sci Bono Science and Technology Centre was also completed a few years ago in the historic Electric Workshop building, which included a great refurbishment of the offices and the creation of retail on the southern end of the building.
Under construction
Work under construction includes the Quinn Street flats, where the conversion from offices is almost complete; the additions to and refurbishment of the Turbine Hall and Boiler House as the corporate head office for Anglo Gold Ashanti, which is also just being completed; the refurbishment of the AA Building and 11 Diagonal Street for FNB and Absa banks respectively; and the Franklin residential accommodation, which was previously the Ernst and Young building.
Planned projects include the conversion of Transport House into an 80-room boutique hotel with 200 flats and 3 600m2 of retail and cinemas; mixed use developments at Numbers 2, 3 and 6 Central Place; flats and retail opposite the Market Theatre, to be known as the Majestic; a major new residential project behind the Quinn Street development to be known as The Sidings; a very large office and retail development in Carr Street; and a complete refurbishment of the popular SAB World of Beer.
My calculation of the cost of all the development that has taken place from 2001 to date, including the known projects to be developed in the near future mentioned above, is well over R3-billion. So the western area of the core city centre has really been hot.
The east
And the forgotten east? Not so forgotten anymore!
The first major new project in this area was Absa's R450-million headquarter building, completed in 1999, followed by the bank's staff parking garage. The really big project now under construction – at R1,1-billion – is another massive addition to the Absa campus. It covers three city blocks and comprises two blocks of offices and an energy centre to service the Absa campus, over basement parking for 3 000 cars. It provides 115 000m² of additional office space that will house 3 580 staff.
The new buildings will consolidate Absa's corporate dominance in the southeastern quadrant of the inner city.
Directly to the east of the Absa campus is Jewel City, where considerable work is under way. ApexHi is investing substantially in upgrading and extending the precinct, as is another private investor. The JDA is busy upgrading the public environment surrounding Jewel City. I know of at least one residential developer who has started buying properties just east of Jewel City and I anticipate increasing interest in this area for residential development purposes.
To the north of Jewel City there has been a great deal of new investment, particularly in the area bounded by the railway line in the north and east, End Street in the west and Market Street in the south. Upgrading of a number of industrial buildings and the conversion of a large number of office blocks into flats will cause this area to become far more residential in nature than previously, while retaining some of the industrial elements.
Some of the residential projects that are on or around End Street are extremely large, such as the 120 End Street conversion from offices to 800 residential units, the previous Checkers office building into 330 residential units and Purchase Place into 440 residential units.
Train station
Regarding infrastructure, there is talk of a new railway station being built in the area to replace the existing Ellis Park and Doornfontein stations, and the existing taxi rank must be ready for an upgrade.
Further east, the Ellis Park-Bertrams area has a minimum of R300-million allocated for upgrading prior to the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ and a visit to the area shows a great deal of work under way on upgrading roads and pavements.
Some R200-million is being spent on upgrading the Ellis Park Stadium itself and I would imagine that a lot more money will be pumped into the area directly around the Ellis Park and Athletics Stadiums.
Residential is again high on the priority list in this area, with a precinct in Bertrams being targeted for expropriation and redevelopment and the announcement by the JHC at the Inner City Summit on 5 May of a massive new housing development.
Not lagging too far behind the west, this eastern sector is looking at investment of R2,5-billion to R3-billion, taking into account projects since 1999 to date and known projects to come. And as we get closer to 2010, I anticipate seeing a lot more going into this area.
Exciting stuff and it can only get better. But notice how often I've referred to "residential" or "housing" – this is currently one of the major drivers of urban regeneration in the inner city and both east and west appear to be attracting their fair share.
Ciao, Neil
Walking and Bus Tours by the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust
The costs below are for members and non-members respectively. Bookings are through Computicket on 011 340 8000 or on the Computicket website. For any queries, phone 011 482 3349 in the mornings.
Saturday, 30 June: Westcliff's West End. This walking tour explores the hilly parts of Westcliff – views, vistas, anecdotes and glimpses of noteworthy architecture. Meet at 2pm at The Ridge School, 26 Woolston Road, Westcliff. The tour lasts about three hours and cost R50 and R70.
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