Construction and property

An affordable housing scheme in Ottery will reduce the housing backlog.

The Amdec Group has been in the headlines in recent years for large and very expansive projects in highlydesirable areas. Johannesburg’s top-end Melrose Arch project was going to be replicated on Cape Town’s Foreshore with the Harbour Arch.

Plans for that development are still going ahead, but the development group broke ground on a very different kind of project in 2020, an affordable housing project in Ottery (pictured). Named the Golden Grove Estate, the R500-million project will have 1 000 affordable residential apartments available for rent where the joint household income does not exceed R22 000 per month. The estate will include a retail centre, communal gardens, children’s playground, crèche and a communal clubhouse.

The Provincial Government of the Western Cape’s “Better Living Model” will deliver 3 602 residential units in an affordable, mixeduse and residential-led development on the site of the old Conradie Hospital on the edge of Pinelands. The integrated, mixed-income housing development aims to reverse the spatial planning that was put in place under apartheid. With the state putting in the bulk infrastructure, costs for developers are significantly reduced. The quid pro quo is that the developer must set aside a certain number of housing units (49%) to grant-funded housing.

The Belhar CBD is the site of 4 188 assorted residential units, including student accommodation, social housing units and military veterans’ units. Building was well-advanced in the course of 2021, despite Covid-19 interruptions. One section of the development, Paarl Rock, had sold out by November 2021.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is continuing to invest in more space. Owned by the Public Investment Corporation and Growthpoint Properties, plans are being rolled out to add 80 000m² to the available space within the Waterfront’s precincts. The Financial Mail reports that recently completed additions include new buildings for Ninety One and Deloitte food market (Makers Landing). Artists will soon have their own market too.

FNB, which publishes a regular property barometer, has done an in-depth analysis of previous crises to understand the post-Covid property market. According to John Loos, a property strategist at FNB Commercial Property Finance, the most vulnerable sector is likely to be Retail Property. Smaller neighbourhood shopping centres, with more essential items and greater convenience, will be less vulnerable.

The lockdown accelerated the trend for people to work from home, and so the Office Property sector will come under pressure. Many companies will be reducing office space, but this is merely a speeding up of an existing trend. ■

ONLINE RESOURCES

Cape Town Transport and Urban Development Authority: www.tda.gov.za Construction Industry Development Board: www.cidb.org.za SA Institute of Architects: www.saia.org.za SECTOR INSIGHT The Waterfront is expanding again.