The City of Joburg Property Company has called for companies to tender for the refurbishment of the Europa Hotel at the corner of Claim and Smit Streets in Hillbrow.

The project, which has an estimated price tag of R4-million, will involve the conversion of the hotel into a transitional housing facility, mostly with shared accommodation facilities.

The building will be completely refurbished with new kitchens and other utilities and will be managed by a specialist property manager with experience in this type of accommodation.

There was previously a number of people living in the hotel illegally, who were evicted some time ago and the hotel was shut down due to crime and poor living conditions.

The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) was the biggest and preferential creditor of the hotel, and the entire asset was abandoned to CoJ in lieu of the debt.

The City of Joburg Property Company said that approximately 40 tender documents have been purchased and they expect to select the winning bidder by the beginning of November.

Work on the project is anticipated to start in the middle of November.

In a separate development, the Rissik Street Post Office is also to be reconstructed and the City of Joburg Property Company has called for tenders in this regard.

However, there has reportedly not been much interest expressed thus far and no firms have tendered.

The post office is to be turned into a usable property and it is hoped that the project will be funded privately. An incentive might be provided that will be structured around the payment of rental, for example, by setting off the amount expended on renovation against the rental. It is worth noting that this possibility is just one among many options.