This figure was provided by Cape Town Partnership's CEO, Michael Farr, who says the partnership has set itself a target of R1bn of new investment this year.

'In the first five months of 2002 we achieved new investment of over R100m a month, reaching a total of R535m,' says Farr.

He says the Cape Town CBD has attracted more than R2,7bn in new investment since the inception of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District 19 months ago. This means that for 19 consecutive months, the CBD has averaged well in excess of R100m a month in new investments. 'This brings the total amount of investment planned, approved or underway in the central city overall to about R8,7bn. Investors are starting to understand the real investment value of urban renewal as opposed to from-scratch developments.'

Some of the developments confirmed for this year are by Woolworths, which is consolidating its headquarters in the CBD, and the refurbishing of both the old OK Bazaars building and Atlantic House the old Roxy Cinema on the corner of Longmarket and Corporation streets.

In the eastern part of the CBD, the R70m Old Town Square development has become a focal point.

The Adderley Park development also features prominently in the list of CBD developments.

This involves the preservation of historic buildings on Adderley Street, Longmarket Street and Parliament Street and the development of an eight level, 700-bay parking garage and office block.

Farr says the Partnership is involved in the implementation of a clustering plan in the CBD, developing niche modes.

One initiative is the development of an e-commerce hub, now called the Shuttleworth-City Precinct in EastCity, honouring businessman Mark Shuttleworth.

The project is being undertaken in partnership with the Cape Information Technology Initiative and the Cape Technikon, and seeks to entice new entrants into the e-commerce and IT sector, with shared facilities, resources and training.

Business Day