26 Nov 2004 : THE comprehensive renewal plans for Cape Town’s CBD and its intended transformation into a cosmopolitan living and working environment have had a profound knock-on effect on the city’s perimeter.

Now, as a result of a combination of factors, property developer Annenberg Real Estate has extended the scope of its R40 million Soho on Strand residential development on top of an existing office building at 128 Strand Street, near De Waterkant.

“The sustained renewal of the CBD and the recent opportune vacant availability of a large part of the office component of the building have encouraged us to expand on the development,” says Dudley Annenberg.

“We have introduced balconies to the original office floors to integrate the façade of the building. Internally, we are upgrading foyers and adding new lifts and ample on-site parking which will bring the offices up to an A-grade specification”.

The Soho on Strand project is already at an advanced stage, with only three of the 50 luxury residential units still available.

There will be one-and-a-half levels of parking dedicated to the office space and one level of parking for the residential units (previously an office floor), leaving three levels of offices in varying sizes available for sectional title ownership within the next two months. Airconditioned office suites ranging in size from 84sq m to 1 866sq m are available with a number of units already sold.

Architects Bam Zöllner, who designed the additional three floors of the building, will also restyle the office floors. Partner Chris Bam says the design of the extensions and lower floor changes responded to existing modern buildings nearby. The building’s combination of stylish dwellings and luxury offices makes it an appropriated interface between the two sectors of the city, says Bam.

Buyers have been attracted to the close proximity of the trendy Cape Quarter only a block away.

Soho on Strand offers a wide range of lifestyle options, with penthouse, duplex and simplex residential units of varying sizes from R1.6 million.

Construction work by Murray and Roberts has begun, and the residential units are scheduled for occupation in April next year.