Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2016 | Page 49

“Commercial and retail property developers and
traders that are keeping up with these game-changing
trends and are accommodating the needs of CBDs’
growing residential communities are the ones that
will reap the benefits,” says Van der Vent.

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Game-changing trends of a growing urban population
Van der Vent’s trends for Cape Town’s CBD - a livework-play destination where the residential population
is estimated to have grown from around 750 to almost
7 000 over the last 16 years - are (according to The
State of Cape Town Central City Report 2015):
• Night-time economy – The Central City has
steadily been moving towards a 24/7 economy
over the past five years as more people are working
in businesses such as call centres. The urban
population continues to expand and an increasing
number of the city’s visitors and tourists are looking
for after-hour activities. There is now a higher
demand for retail with longer trading hours, latenight restaurants and delicatessen-type food stores.
There are a number of opportunities in this regard
still to be taken up, particularly after hours.
• Office sharing – co-working is on the rise in
the CBD as small businesses and freelance workers
continually hunt for rent space within a larger setup where they can share facilities while working
in a professional environment. “This is a situation
also beneficial to landlords looking to increase the
number of tenants,” reads the CCID’s report.
• People-centric office design – Clients and
tenants of Central City office buildings prefer an
open-plan environment with small break-out rooms
for meetings, as well as open kitchen areas, social
recreation areas, ambient lighting and showers for
staff who work out.
• “Third place” - Urbanists seem to favour a “third
place”, the global concept “third place” means
some golden midway between the “first place”
(the home environment) and the “second place”
(the work environment) according to American
urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg. Whether these
informal public gathering places are cafés, clubs or
parks, they are crucial for civil society, democracy
and civic engagement to thrive.
All of which are opportunities for property developers
and public-private partnerships.

RESOURCES
Quoin Online
www.reimag.co.za

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