Housing in Southern Africa October-November 2016

News

Bridge City’s mixed use vision

E Thekwini Municipality recently acquired the development rights for five town centre sites that have been identified for social housing opportunities. The social housing plans are an essential component of this vision, building on the 48 000 m 2 Bridge City shopping centre and the regional magistrate’s court, which are already operational, and the 500-bed regional state hospital is scheduled to open in 2019. Construction will begin shortly on a 150-bed private hospital and nursing homewill commence shortly, while enquiries for further residential, office and destination retail facilities are being processed. Founded on the existing rail ser- vice under the Bridge City shopping centre and the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) routes under construction will link the development to Durban, Umhlanga and Cornubia. The city and Tongaat Hulett aim to establish Bridge City as a fully functional, mixed use town centre able to meet the region’s current and growing needs. “The whole picture of what we envisioned for Bridge City is nowcom- ing together with the development of key sites within the town centre,” says Brian Ive, the joint venture’s Development Executive responsible for Bridge City. “Our plans for a func- tional mixed-use development that combines public sector sites and services and excellent public trans- port with private sector investment is now almost complete.” With a third of the town centre site around 91 000m² still available Ive anticipates that once the BRT

The Bridge City development northof Durban is gainingmomentumas a newurban centrewith plans for densification, new transport nodes.

R ob McGaffin, Senior Lecturer Department of Construction Economics and Management at theUniversity of Cape Town reveals that beneficiaries of fully subsidised houses have indeed started on the property ladder. Unfortunately, government re- quire beneficiaries of fully subsidised houses to hold onto their properties for a period of eight years. Statistics show that almost 90% of beneficia- ries in George sold their properties thereby profiting illegally. And, almost 60% of RDP houses in Ive adds that Bridge City repre- sents one of the most affordable fully serviced property development products on themarket. “We have in- vested in this development together with the city because it is well located andwe’re actively seekingdevelopers who share this vision. The goal is to develop a truly integrated mixed use development that represents the vision of a new urban future for South Africa.” ■ infrastructure is completed in March 2017, more developers will be on board. “There are still opportunities for residential, retail and commercial developers. Commuters, consumers and residents are attracted to a town centre that offers a secure and clean urban environment.”

RDP owners step up on the property ladder

Dunoon have either been sold, or let, despite threats by MECs to confiscate the houses and reallocated to the needy. Other trends that emerged during McGaffin’s presentation at the recent 8th annual International Housing Solutions conference in Johannes- burg was the increasing demand for apartments. In a decade the demand for apartments by black households has doubled, escalated in Indian and Asian households and slightly dropped in white and coloured households. ■

October/November 2016