This is an encouraging sign that property investment is finally recovering from the recession.

Speaking at the opening of the company's funky new offices at Mandela Rhodes Place recently, Richard Boxford, LIFE Residential Managing Director of Sales and Marketing, said: “We are happy to report that LIFE Residential is, for the first time since the global downturn, seeing a significant increase in buyer enquiries. We have seen a marked upswing especially since the beginning of the year.”

LIFE Residential (a Cape Town inner-city residential property company, specialising in property sales, rentals and short term accommodation) celebrated the opening of its new space in the heart of Mandela Rhodes Place with about 100 guests, including other organisations who also work towards positive investment and development of the inner city. Guests were entertained by Cape Town’s popular Afro-operatic pop sensation, the Gugulethu Tenors. 

Central City Improvement District (CCID) Chief Operating Officer Tasso Evangelinos congratulated LIFE Residential on its “beautiful new office” and welcomed the company and its staff members to the neighbourhood.

“LIFE Residential’s move into bigger and better offices here in the heart of the CBD, is another significant sign that the city centre is open for business and that business confidence is on the rise,” Evangelinos said.

The seven year old agency relocated from Adderley Street to a brand new office on the ground floor of Mandela Rhodes Place, next to Doppio Zero restaurant. The new office is accessible from both outside and inside the building. It is the only dedicated CBD residential property sales office in the Cape Town CBD and therefore a market leader in this area.

The new office sports LIFE Residential’s new branding, with a black and white logo and picture of its mascot, Ubomi, its recently adopted rhino cow.  

Commenting further on the state of the residential CBD property market, Boxford said: “Returning interest in residential city centre property is translating into more client viewings of properties and offers on properties. All the signs so far suggest an improvement in buyer interest, although we remain cautious. I have no doubt that our new office location in Mandela Rhodes Place will bring increased business as well.”

Affiliated to London LIFE Residential, LIFE Residential South Africa has since its establishment in 2005, focussed on the emerging Cape Town central city market for new residential developments and later included property management for owners in its portfolio. Most of its clients are seasoned property investors in the central city.