Pretoria office building to be converted to flats  
Business Day Reporter

OLD Mutual Property Group and City Property Administration are set to boost the affordable residential letting market in Pretoria’s central business district (CBD) with an R83m conversion of the Steyns building into 367 apartments.

The project is the third joint venture between Old Mutual Property Group and City Property Administration to convert redundant office space into apartments for letting. Other conversion projects by the joint venture are Plaza Place and Persam Place in Johannesburg’s CBD.

The Steyns project also covers the upgrade of 22 shops at ground level and of the 108-bay parking areas, says Brent Wiltshire, business development executive at Old Mutual Property Group.

He says the eight floors of office space covering 19080m² will be converted into 157 bachelor units, 116 one-bedroom apartments, 18 one-bedroom “de luxe” units, 59 two-bedroom flats and 17 specially equipped one-bedroom flats for the disabled.

The building is expected to be ready for occupation by the end of next year.

“Property owners have converted Pretoria commercial buildings into residential properties with much success, with City Property alone creating more than 2000 units over the past five years,” says Wiltshire.

“Demand for residential accommodation in the CBD continues to grow. Out of 24 residential properties in the CBD, there is only a 5% vacancy. With the arcades and main arterial routes close to the Steyns building in Schoeman street, these units will be highly marketable.”