30 March 2006 Press release Former Europa Hotel provides emergency shelter for people made homeless by fire in Joburg CBD EUROPA HOTEL PROVIDES EMERGENCY SHELTER FOR PEOPLE MADE HOMELESS BY DEVESTATING FIRE JOHANNESBURG. City of Joburg Property Company (JPC) has made available its emergency facilities at the Europa Hotel to assist the people made homeless in yesterday's devastating fire. This is the first time that the Europa, since its renovation, will be used for one of its intended purposes. The Europa Hotel which was recently relaunched as a transitional housing facility, forms part of the City's overall plan to assist people caught up in desperate situations such as fires. Under this plan people are given short term assistance in terms of accommodation, food and basic amenities. "This is part of JPC's contribution in assisting to accommodate people left homeless under various emergency situations and is the first step towards providing a more permanent solution to this vexing problem," said Geoff Mendelowitz, Project Manager of the JPC's Better Buildings Programme. The prototype Europa Hotel offers both a temporary relocation premises for low-income earners and an emergency shelter to be used in situations such as yesterday. Situated on the corner of Claim and Smit Streets in Hillbrow, the Europa is a 70 unit, six-storey building. It is the first joint project between CoJ and the Madulamoho Housing Association and serves as a model for future communal housing and emergency shelter facilities in the inner city. There are currently 144 buildings identified by the Better Buildings Programme for rejuvenation. The project spin-off is to draw investment back into the inner city and to reverse the declining state of properties in the CBD. JPC are managers of the CoJ property portfolio. The Company was established in 2000 as part of a programme to streamline operations so as to achieve better financial stability and service delivery for the CoJ and its Municipal Owned Entities (MOEs). Ends. For more information: Geoff Mendelowitz Project Manager: Better Buildings Programme Tel.: (011) 339 2700 / 083 327 0467 Issued by: Azure PR and Communication Consultants 082 903 8118 / tel.: (012) 667 4748