CAPE Town's central business district is poised to enter an exciting period of growth which will recreate a vibrant retail environment, attract office users back to town, kickstart a sustainable residential community and enhance the growing hotel market. That's the confident prediction of city property broker Theodore Yach, who has just completed a comprehensive scenario plan which "crystal balls" the property market in the CBD for the next five years. Yach, one of the key figures behind the formation of the Cape Town Partnership in 1999 and the Central City Improvement District in 2000, has undertaken painstaking research of the city. It begins with an overview of the city and the dynamics affecting it and is then narrowed down to an analysis of different city blocks and finally to an analysis of each individual property - some 850 in all. Yach said he had identified seven specific market dynamics affecting the city. The first, he said, was the linking of the V&A Waterfront with the city. "Up until now the Waterfront has been seen as a distinctly separate node. This will now change with the opening of the Convention Centre on the Foreshore in July and the development of the Roggebaai Canal precinct, which has already begun," he said. "For the first time since the creation of the V&A Waterfront, the CBD and the Waterfront are inextricably linked. This has major positive benefits for the CBD in terms of creating one dynamic area instead of two competing nodes." The other dynamics were the rapid development of the Green Point retail and commercial precinct, the growth of the Bo-Kaap residential market, the dramatic increases in residential property values in the entire City Bowl, the imminent resolution of land and tenant restitution issues in District Six, and the potential for development in Culemborg. Yach also pointed to the R400 million investment deal announced this week, which will see Irish company Howard Holdings redevelop parts of two historic city blocks bounded by Wale Street into a luxury hotel and residential, commercial and retail space. "All of these developments will have a huge benefit for the whole metropole," he said. "It will change the nature of town forever. I think many Capetonians don't understand the full impact of these changes - only when the Convention Centre opens in July will that impact become more apparent." Yach said tenants and landlords in the city centre would be directly affected by the changing environment. "Tenants will be looking to sign long leases, and landlords will be reviewing their rentals," he said. Turning to the residential market, Yach said there were currently 500 to 600 people, mostly professionals, living in the CBD. "We are aware of at least 15 residential proposals in various stages of completion which will generate a critical mass of about 2 000 people living in town in the next two to three years," he said. "A major densification process in the CBD is coming into play," Yach said, "while uncontrolled urban sprawl and decentralisation in the metropole will come to a logical end." He added that the regeneration of District Six would have "incalculable value" for the CBD. "The positive effect on the entire Cape Town CBD of a large dormitory suburb so close by will be dramatic in terms of generating retail and commercial activity, especially in the east city precinct." Yach said District Six residents would be encouraged to have their businesses in and around the CBD. "This will change the demographic profile of business in the city and make it more representative of the general population." Yach emphasised that growth and prosperity in the CBD would have positive spinoffs for the rest of the metropole. "The CBD is the primary employer in the metropole - some 240 000 people come to work in town every day. It is also the primary tourist hub of the metropole," he said. "A successful CBD will have benefits for surrounding areas, especially previously disadvantaged areas, in terms of cross-over investment." Theodore Yach can be contacted on 082 441 7784.
Publisher: Weekend Argus
Source: Weekend Argus
CAPE Town's central business district is poised to enter an exciting period of growth which will recreate a vibrant retail environment, attract office users back to town, kickstart a sustainable residential community and enhance the growing hotel market.
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