Canny developers have been buying up key properties and they're about to turn them into a large mixed-use precinct.
Afhco CEO Renney Plit, possibly the biggest buyer in the precinct, says he expects a thriving community of 10 000 people to be living in New Doornfontein in the next couple of years. They will find work at a multitude of businesses for which old buildings are being refurbished. Compare this with Newtown, punted as the place to be by city authorities for almost a decade, which has yet to produce 500 residential units.
Plit is not alone. Amdec, the Cape developers and 50% partners in icon mixed-use project Melrose Arch, and residential developer Chelsea Manhattan have asked Plit to join them in creating SA's biggest block of flats - 850 units over a shopping centre in a 19-floor building at 120 End Street. The building cost them R170m when they recently bought it from Nedbank.
City consultant Neil Fraser says what used to be the Checkers office building is also being converted into 330 residential units, and Purchase Place into 440.
Next to New Doornfontein, the suburb of City & Suburban is almost certain to become a major creative centre.
Ricci Polack's Lifestyle Lofts, the developers that turned Milpark into one of Johannesburg's trendiest mixed-use areas, has bought a portfolio of old buildings next to Jewel City. "They've been in the same family for 86 years," he says. "We even have the original furniture. They have a wonderful history." And, typically, Polack has sold out his lofts, offices and shops before they became publicly known.
The biggest tenant is an art gallery, displaying works being assembled by some of Johannesburg's top financiers. Architects, advertising executives, production houses and restaurants are also opening up. Polack is moving his own offices there, too.
Johannesburg CBD's eastern area is the oldest residential district in the city and its complex fabric of houses, warehouses, offices and modest factories is ideal for adapting to modern city life. Small developers can create great variation in style, with two- and three-storey buildings ideal for lofts.
The larger properties in Doornfontein will be more suited to the big developers. Afhco is likely to own more than 5 000 residential units in the city in a few years. The restaurants in 120 End Street will face a park between End and Nugget streets that the consortium has offered to manage. The 120 End Street development budget includes the cost of upgrading the park.
The area is part of Johannesburg's 2010 redevelopment plan, and the city has begun cleaning up the area around Ellis Park. It will also have a New Doornfontein central improvement district, which will stretch from the edge of the fashion district in the CBD to the Jeppe Street police station. The area houses the University of Johannesburg's Doornfontein campus.
Plit says small business is thriving in the area. "We bought Access City, another landmark building in the precinct, and the demand for space from cut, make and trim factories and other small manufacturing businesses is so intense that we're fixing it up to rent to them. Access City is already 90% let and will house 3 000 workers."
Johannesburg's journey to the east will be swift. It's not a zero sum game, so the other precincts should not lose business to the newcomers.