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City of Joburg updates investors on inner city housing project opportunities

4th December 2018

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The City of Johannesburg has identified and is preparing 84 buildings in and around the inner city of Johannesburg for use by private sector developers to build housing for 300 000 people in the city who do not have housing.

At the council chambers on Tuesday, City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba emphasised that the city needed this type of partnership with the private sector to provide affordable housing because the city could not solve the problem by itself.

He stressed that the city's work to reduce lawlessness and improve the inner city had supported its project to identify, expropriate where necessary, and redevelop or repurpose the buildings to provide safe and affordable housing.

A newly formed forensics unit has a team that focuses on combating property hijackings, he added.

City property management agency Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) CEO Helen Botes highlighted that the city would have a further 86 additional buildings that it would release by March next year, if the JPC is granted approval by the city council. These buildings were mainly in the Orange Grove areas.

The city would release more than 100 buildings over the next three years and was also looking at creating similar housing development opportunities in the areas of Roodepoort, Randburg and Louis Botha, confirmed Mashaba.

The city would be responsible for providing the bulk infrastructure connections for the buildings, but did impose certain criteria on bidders for the buildings, including technical competency and capacity, black ownership and empowerment, that they densify the city and that the companies create jobs and allow the training of artisans during construction. This was done to ensure that the city had the necessary artisans in the next ten to fifteen years to maintain the buildings, he explained.

Bidders could also consider buying the buildings or securing them on long-term leases, according to their needs, he added.

"The city cannot build sufficient houses to overcome the challenge of providing affordable housing for the people who work and live in it. We need to approach the private sector as partners to secure ideas for the development and use of these buildings to provide affordable housing. We can create the opportunities by proposing these buildings."

Additionally, Mashaba highlighted the need to develop student accommodation precincts and safe, affordable student accommodation for the 80 000 students in the city.

The demand for housing and student accommodation was high, he added.

A prospectus of the 84 buildings is available on the city's and the JPC's websites.

The investment and development community attending the event in the council's chambers asked detailed questions about energy systems and small and medium-sized enterprise development.

Mashaba said that the city had to deal with the housing issue as a priority and small businesses aiming to invest in buildings were better served forming joint ventures with other companies. He stressed that the city had to give priority to those offers that were ready to proceed.

Further, he added that the city was relying on the private sector to come up with ideas, such as energy management or renewable energy systems, as part of their proposals and factored into their financial calculations. However, Mashaba maintained that the city aimed to support the creation of as many housing units as possible, and densifying the city, and that bulk infrastructure would be necessary to power these buildings.

"We must focus on creating the enabling environment for the private sector. We have, thus, capacitated the teams dealing with regulatory approvals and hired additional people into the planning department to fast-track the processes."

The city had identified close to 500 buildings in the inner city that it wanted to turn around over the long term. It had also ensured that inner city projects are given preference in the planning and approval processes.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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