The arrival of “genteel” retail will boost inner-city rejuvenation efforts because one of the criticisms levelled at efforts to turn the inner city around has been that entertainment and retail facilities have been virtually nonexistent there. The northern section of the inner city has always had a vibrant retail sector, but this has been of the “rough and ready” variety with informal traders dominating this section.

Until recently, retail prospects in the southern section, where most of the residential-to-office conversions and office block redevelopments had taken place, were still bleak. Commentators agree that to revive the city centre and encourage people to live, work and play there, it has to be turned into a 24-hour centre with a choice of retail and entertainment facilities.

Gerald Olitzki , sole proprietor of Olitzki Property Holdings (OPH), a large owner of commercial and retail space in the CBD, says Johannesburg cannot be called a “world-class city if it dies at 5pm. You don’t get high-class residents or tourists if it dies at 5pm.” OPH has a portfolio of large office blocks with ground-floor retail, and is one of the companies spearheading the retail revolution in the southern section of the CBD.

The company is a large inner-city property owner and specialises in “A-grade offices upstairs and high-quality retail on the ground floor”. It owns all the buildings on the southern side of Gandhi Square, stretching from Rissik Street to Eloff Street. Olitzki says the office market in the CBD has “had an 180º turnaround”, and OPH is fully let.

However, retail activity has lagged behind the office and residential activity in the southern portion over the past few years. Rudimentary and informal retail have always flourished in the northern part of the city in the Bree, Jeppe and Plein street areas. But Olitzki says the southern sector is changing and attracting “genteel retail”. “It’s now catering for an upmarket clientele. Five years ago there was no retail that you would call genteel in any way. There were no decent, shop-fitted retail outlets and there were no pubs, no restaurants and no decent fast-food outlets.”

In OPH’s portfolio in the Gandhi Square area, there are now more than 40 “high-quality retail tenants”. “There is huge demand for retail space, for high-quality retail, pubs and restaurants of the finest kind.” He says that, according to statistics from Metrobus and national retailers, more than 1-million people come into the city every day. About a quarter pass through Gandhi Square.

New retail tenants taking up space at or around Gandhi Square include:

• Shivava, an African-themed restaurant which has just signed a lease with OPH to take up a substantial portion of the first floor of one of the buildings on the square. Shivava will be moving into its premises on February 1;
• A Steers fast-food outlet has taken up space on the main square and has been trading well for the past four months;
• Sister brand Debonairs Pizza has signed a lease with OPH on the square;
• Fast-food outlets Anats, Sandwich Baron, Something Fishy and bakery Butterfields are open on the square; and
• A new pub called Bartenders and a German restaurant and pub called Zum Felzenkeller have opened for business.

Opposite the square, new tenants have also opened up shop. These include an African-themed Nando’s restaurant on the corner of Main and Rissik streets; and Capellos on the corner of Main and Loveday streets. And a Keg pub and restaurant is set to take a 450m² shop between Nando’s and Capellos. Around the corner are some clothing stores selling upmarket labels, such as Hugo Boss and Armani. Vodashop, MNet and Nashua Mobile have also taken up space in the area.

The new tenants in the area say trade is paying off. Avri Glickman, who owns Capellos with partners Jeff Goldberg and Barry Aldworth, says the restaurant has been open about four months and is now opening at night three times a week. “It’s been fantastic. We’ve got upmarket people and a relaxed atmosphere. We are looking at doing a venue upstairs to cater for executive lunches and also a proper cocktail lounge.”

Lael Bethlehem, CEO of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), the development arm of the City of Johannesburg, says the retail development is one of the trends in the inner city. “Where people have been brave enough to invest ahead of the curve, they are getting rewards.” Bethlehem says an example of this is the Gandhi Square development, where OPH has put a “significant amount of money into the various buildings around Gandhi Square”.

“What he (Olitzki) saw and what others didn’t see at the time was that there is a tremendous market of people who are in the inner city and want to be in the inner city, both in the commercial space, as well as commuters and residents around the inner city who need retail service. Where you create decent retail space, people will fill it.”  Gandhi Square runs on to Main Street, which has also been redeveloped in a joint venture by the property owners and the JDA.

This redevelopment runs all along Main Street to the Anglo American headquarters in the west of the city.