Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2018 | Page 26

CBD INVESTMENTS
Dynamics that make a
vibrant downtown
BY CAROLA KOBLITZ
P
ublic and private sector are critical to the success of a
downtown. Without the buy-in from each of these sec-
tors, a downtown simply ends up as one that doesn’t
work. CCID chairperson Rob Kane noted that a successful
downtown was the most visible indicator of a successful city,
and reflected whether that downtown would be an asset or a
liability in its efforts to recruit new businesses and economic
sectors, as well as residents and visitors from both locally and
abroad.
“It’s also key to retaining existing investment,” said Kane.
Referring to the Cape Town Central City, he noted that of the
13 development and redevelopment projects that had come on
line during the previous (2017) year, included:
• Six public sector investments, across local, provincial and
national government (ie: the new CTICC expansion, the
redevelopment of the Strand Concourse, the upgrade of
both the College of Cape Town and the Master of the
High Court, ongoing upgrades to the Cape Town Station,
and upgrades to the Iziko museum and planetarium in The
Company’s Garden), to a total value of R1.198 billion.
• Six private sector investments (on the commercial
side, upgrades to 4 Loop Street, Pier Place, Speaker’s
Corner and around the Church Square precinct. On the
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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
accommodation front, including hotels and residential,
there was the upgrade of Tsogo Sun’s Cape Sun, the
opening of the new Tsogo Sun SunSquare and StayEasy
hotels, the opening of the Radisson Blue Hotel &
Residence and the completion of The Sentinel residential
complex), to a total value of R2.350bn.
“Going forward, the 35 other developments currently
under construction or in either a planning or proposed phase
– all of which are hoped to start construction by 2020 – very
healthily continue this trend of commitment from both the
public and private sectors, and reflect an additional value, very
conservatively speaking, of an additional R19.306bn.”
Kane stressed that the term “conservatively” was used, as:
“Not all development values are currently known to us as the
CCID and as the publishers of the annual investment guide,
The State of Cape Town Central City Report, the last edition
of which looked at 2017 in review.”
In his address on the morning, CCID CEO Tasso
Evangelinos noted that while equal investment from across
both the public and private sectors were vital to the success of
a downtown like the Cape Town Central City, there were also