The City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee has greenlit plans to develop an open-air staff parking facility at the civic centre in the city’s CBD into affordable housing and mixed-use development.
The plan will now go to council for approval of a public participation process to release the site for redevelopment.
The site — strategically located within the Foreshore, close to major public transport infrastructure — has been identified as having much greater potential for mixed-use development, including residential, commercial, retail and public space upgrades.
This step has been welcomed by the housing lobby group Ndifuna Ukwazi, which commemorated the two-year anniversary of its #Land4PeopleNot4Parking campaign in April this year.
The campaign calls for provincial-owned parking lots, as well as the parliament parking lot — currently used for the temporary parliament site — to be used for social, affordable and inclusionary housing.
In the heart of the inner city
“We are recommending that this parking lot be released by the City to unlock yet another affordable housing development right in the heart of the inner city. The development should also offer mixed-use opportunities — for shops, offices, parking and so on. This is how we are making underused public assets work for Capetonians with a broader land release pipeline of over 12 000 affordable housing units,” Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said.
The redevelopment is expected to deliver long-term benefits, including estimated sale income of R230m plus R50m in annual rates and services revenue to support service delivery, as well as R1.5bn in private sector investment.
Jobs created
About 3 500 jobs will be created in the construction and related sectors during both construction and the life cycle of the development.
“This project demonstrates the City’s commitment to acting in the best interests of the public. We are prepared to release underutilised City-owned assets where this can unlock far greater value for the economy, create jobs, attract investment and improve the urban environment. This civic centre parking site presents a unique opportunity to support inclusive growth while ensuring that well-located public land is used more efficiently for the benefit of all residents,” said James Vos, Mayco member for economic growth.
Supporting the planning process
Carl Pophaim, Mayco member for human settlements, added: “The City’s human settlements department will support the planning processes for this site to ensure we optimise affordable housing opportunities from this development. This is just one of several exciting inner-city land release initiatives that together will deliver thousands of well-located affordable units over time. Others include the City’s Fruit & Veg site on Roeland Street, several more sites in Woodstock and Salt River, and the City’s support for provincial-led projects at Buitengracht Street and Artscape.”
Report submitted for consideration
Following the mayoral committee’s recommendation, the report will now be submitted to council for consideration on 27 May.
Subject to approval, the City will start a formal public participation process, during which residents, stakeholders and interested parties will be invited to submit comments on the proposed redevelopment.
‘Important step’
Ndifuna Ukwazi welcomed the announcement “as an important step towards addressing Cape Town’s housing crisis and spatial inequality” in a media release.
“It reflects growing recognition that well-located public land should be prioritised for affordable housing instead of underutilised parking infrastructure or exclusive private development.
“As part of reflecting on the campaign and imagining what these sites could become, Ndifuna Ukwazi partnered with the NowNow Competition to invite architects, designers and members of the public to submit proposals envisioning the future of these spaces.
“We now call on Premier Alan Winde and the provincial government to release these sites for social, affordable and inclusionary housing,” according to the media release.
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