THE conversion of a derelict city centre block into a multi-level parking garage two years ago is sparking a quiet revolution in the historic heart of Cape Town, with older office buildings being redeveloped into residential apartments. And the transformation is not limited to the buildings themselves - consultations are under way with the city council for the "greening" of this area, including Parliament Street and Church Square, with tree-lined pedestrian malls replacing traffic-choked streets and parking areas. The catalyst for this process was the bold decision in 2001 by a small consortium of business people and the Cape of Good Hope Bank (now Nedbank Corporate) to acquire the site bounded by Adderley, Longmarket and Parliament streets and redevelop the eight decaying buildings into a parking garage, while retaining the historic office and retail premises. Errol Friedmann, a director of the Adderley Development Syndication, described the site as a "cesspit", with vagrants, petty criminals and drug dealers inhabiting the buildings. "The exteriors were crumbling, the interiors had been stripped of most fixtures and fittings, and one historic Adderley Street landmark, the Pearne building, was fire-gutted," he said. "No one else would touch the site - we're patting ourselves on the back for having the foresight to see its potential." Today the block comprises a parking garage for 800 cars, offices, shops and a proposed new boutique hotel and restaurant to be developed by Mark Tuckwell in the old Pearne, Fabian and Guardian Assurance buildings in Adderley Street. Crucially, the consortium planned a garage that would be large enough to provide parking for other buildings in the precinct as well. The most recent spin-off of this vision is the sell-out of the former Old Mutual head office building in Darling Street, for which The Adderley provided 218 parking bays. Peter Holland, who has handled all the sales and letting transactions for the Adderley Syndication, said: "Estate agents have told us that they would not have sold a single flat in the redeveloped building, Mutual Heights, if they didn't come with secure parking." Holland said construction would begin soon on an additional two levels of parking for 220 cars at The Adderley. With more than 1 000 bays, it will be one of the biggest parking garages in the country, but from street level one can't even see that it's a garage because the facades of the old buildings have been preserved. In addition, two levels of luxury duplex apartments are planned for the uppermost levels and overall construction is scheduled for completion next year. The neighbouring Groote Kerk building is also being converted into flats, and two run-down buildings in Parliament Street, Diamond House and Creative House, are due for significant makeovers in the next two years. "The important feature is that the new residential units at The Adderley will offer A-grade accommodation, and some of them will be loft-type rooftop apartments with out-door entertainment areas," Holland said. He said there was a pent-up demand for accommodation in the City Bowl and that these apartments should be attractive to young, dynamic people who want to be in town. "The rejuvenation of the inner city has taken off in the past six months and is spreading across the whole area, including the old BoE head office and surrounding buildings in Wale Street, which are to be redeveloped by Ireland's Howard Holdings. It will change the whole retail profile of the area," Holland said. "In the next few years there will be at least 600 apartments in this precinct from Adderley to Plein Street. At least R400 million is being invested in this precinct. "This is one of the most exciting happenings in Cape Town since the conceptualisation of the V&A Waterfront," said Holland. Explaining the background to this process, he said the big corporate tenants had just about all moved to the Foreshore, leaving a lot of the older office buildings in the upper part of town vacant. Friedmann said property owners had been able to add tremendous value to their older office buildings by converting them to residential use. "Owners are able to get R8 000 to R12 000/m2 for residential space in this part of the city, whereas they would be lucky to get R3 000/m2 for office space. By converting to residential they have therefore trebled the value of their buildings." A sold-out Mutual Heights represents a return of R100 million, whereas the building would have been valued at only about R15 million if it had sold for office use, he pointed out.
Publisher: Weekend Argus
Source: Weekend Argus
Greening of CBD: older offices being redeveloped as apartments with plans..
Posted On Monday, 28 July 2003 02:00 Published by eProperty News
Greening of CBD: older offices being redeveloped as apartments with plans for pedestrian malls Residential revolution under way in city.
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