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 24 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