Neil Fraser
6 September 2002
INSTEAD of doing a listing of the remaining projects, which I've been threatening to do for weeks, here are three very different new projects typical of the mix of investment that the city is starting to attract.
BUT FIRST! The Summit is over bar the shouting (which has already started!) - "it was a success!" - "it didn't achieve its objectives!" I guess it just depends where you're coming from. I never had an opportunity to sit in on any of the Conference sessions but did get to the Ubuntu Village and to the Waterdome. I thought that they were both well managed and certainly well supported - the Ubuntu Village Arts and Crafts Imbizo was stunning.
The end of the Summit inevitably means the end of the highly visible presence of law and order - and the endless cavalcades! On the 15-20 minute motorway trip between the CBD and Sandton, one has consistently seen at least twenty police vehicles per trip as opposed to the one or two a week we are used to. However, from my point of view, the metro area has benefited from tens of millions of rand invested in upgrading infrastructure which probably wouldn't have happened for many years otherwise. Lots more employment created even if only short-term and everything is looking spruce and neat. I haven't heard too many criticisms so the ubiquitous doom, gloom and disaster brigade have once again been proved wrong and the city has done a creditable job.
Linking the Summit to projects - attended the launch of the "Partnership for delivery of Primary Health care including HIV/AIDS Programme". The President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi signed an agreement with our Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, which will start generating some 50 million Euro funding spread over five provinces including our own Gauteng.
So what has this to do with urban revitalisation in Joburg? Well, it has provided the impetus for the development of a Hillbrow Health Precinct over a large area to the south of the Fort and west of Hillbrow. (between Joubert and Klein Streets). The City has formed a partnership with Wits University's Reproductive Health Research Unit combining local economic development and urban regeneration with addressing HIV/AIDS. The Precinct will encompass the old Esselen Street Clinic which has looked the worse for wear for some time and it and various adjacent decaying buildings will be upgraded as well as the public environment. It isn't an isolated area in that it locks into the revitalisation activity of the adjacent Constitution Hill development - so the urban upgrade spreads! Come to think of it I didn't hear our Minister of Health mention "HIV/AIDS" in her speech!!!!!!!
Then there is the R50 million "Union Square" private sector retail development north of the Jack Mincer Taxi Rank and next to Joubert Park - a gritty centre-city area if there ever was one! - so the development is particularly welcome. The Taxi Rank turns around six thousand taxis a day and the area has about 22 000 residential units which surround the site so it will cater for both the huge commuter traffic as well as the residential population. Score Supermarket is the anchor tenant taking 2 000 square metres as Score's flagship store in Joeys. I see Gavin Sach's name mentioned in the press details, well done Gavin. Gavin, the CBD property broker for JHI - is one of the few of his ilk who has exhibited great faith in the city for many years and I know will be delighted at this new initiative.
Three years ago the city launched its "Better Buildings Programme". The programme seeks to stimulate new investment into the renovation of bad buildings in the inner city by marrying buildings in poor repair and with large arrears with investors willing to upgrade the property and institute high level and sustained management. The Council facilitates the process by acquiring the building, writing off the accumulated debt of the rates and service charges owing and charging a nominal purchase price for the property to approved developers. Financial institutions are reciprocating the Council write-offs on the non-performing mortgage bonds.
The first of these projects to be completed, Lake Success in Hillbrow, was officially opened about three weeks ago. The Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) acquired the building when it was in a parlous state - "The lifts did not work as their motors had been stolen. Many of the units had been vandalised with broken cupboards in kitchens and bathrooms. The sewerage system was broken and for a long time raw sewage had spilled onto the basement floor and caused the parking basement to collapse. Pools of stagnant sewage added to the other health hazards of rats and cockroaches." Yuk! The opening showcased a beautifully restored building providing 140 bachelor units, 13 rooms and 1 three bedroom unit. In line with JHC's policy of acquiring properties in a precinct so that the external environment can also be more broadly impacted on, they have purchased a building opposite Lake Success, Crest Hill, which is actually in worse condition than Lake Success was originally.
JHC's innovative approach to management and community upliftment will guarantee the success of these projects which will together cost R10 million of which R3 million is in the form of institutional subsidies. Talking of JHC reminds me that their enthusiastic CEO, Taffy Adler, is spending 5 months in the USA working with Shorebank, a specialised housing bank so expect even more innovative thinking from this model company.
A European Union funded health programme with urban renewal spin-offs; a major private sector retail investment and the first of the Better Buildings projects which is a public/private residential intervention are examples of the diversity of projects, investments and funding which is accompanying the continuing upsurge of interest in the Johannesburg Inner City.
Have a great week-end, Neil
