Neighbourhood 28 JANUARY 2018
PROPERTY & LIFESTYLE
True colours
Discover what draws homebuyers to the suburbs of Morningside, Essenwood and Musgrave, page 2
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SUBURB FOCUS: THE BEREA
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BUSINESS Q&A
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PROPERTY NEWS
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PROPERTY NEWS
28 JANUARY 2018
Neighbourhood
Suburb focus
The Berea Here’s what happening in property in Morningside, Essenwood & Musgrave WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER IMAGES: PAULO MENEZES, STEPHEN PILBROUGH, SHANE VAN ECK & GOOGLE MAPS
M
orningside, Essenwood and Musgrave often fall under the general term of “the Berea” which, inaccurate as it is, is understood by locals as the belt on the hill above Durban, and not north. There’s a wide range of property in these suburbs, from student accommodation and first-time starter homes (generally close to the city and the Durban University of Technology), to luxurious homes and apartments higher up the hill, often with breathtaking views of the sea and city. These were the original Durban homes, *Map not to scale
many of them in elevated positions in order to watch the movement of ships or to catch the sea breeze. This property belt has it all, from a number of the province’s top private schools to glorious parks, the Florida Road commercial and entertainment hub and proximity to the city as well as the freeways north, south and west. And then, of course, the beachfront and beaches are five minutes’ drive away on a busy day.
Property
The glorious old Durban suburbs, north of the N3 freeway as you glide down into Durban, have a new face – a property landscape which has become increasingly more diverse. For architectural purists or those who are attached to the colonial skyline, it’s often difficult to watch
the old Victorian and Edwardian homes demolished, with massive, often flashy homes replacing them. As anywhere, it’s a question of taste and lifestyle. For the ever-changing demographics of this large property belt, vintage homes either don’t appeal or are at odds with the lifestyle. Amafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal and citizen organisations like Save Our Berea fight the good fight, but some of these historical homes are often neglected and lose their value. Few people enjoy change, but it feels as if the landscape is settling into a curious mixture of old and new, and everybody’s getting on with the business of business. For property investors, carefully managed apartments rented out to students are proving to be lucrative, and homeowners can have their pick of everything from great views to vibey areas and luxury.
There are corners of affluence, largely upper Morningside, where the views are sensational and properties and plots are often large. At the heart, are Mitchell and Jamieson parks, the green lungs of the area. Photographer, art teacher and owner of three springer spaniels, Heather Fitchett, loves the numerous green spaces on the Berea. “I really love our numerous parks, where we can walk our dogs in safe and attractive spaces.”
Schooling
Quality schooling is a real drawcard to the area and it’s spawned much of the new property development around the Musgrave, Essenwood and Currie Road areas. For Clive Drake, living five minutes from his three children’s schools has made a world of difference. “All three walk to school – it’s made everybody’s lives so much
I don’t want to live behind high walls. I want to be part of the community every day and night – and that works for me in my apartment off Florida Road. I work around the corner, and I cycle and surf five minutes away. ANDREW BRADLEY, RESIDENT
PUBLISHED BY BLACKSTAR PROPERTY PUBLISHING Unit G04, Old Castle Brewery Bldg 6 Beach Road, Woodstock Cape Town, 087 828 0423
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28 JANUARY 2018
Neighbourhood
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PROPERTY NEWS
easier. And I like the fact that they’re always bringing friends home because we’re so nearby and accessible.” Durban Girls College, Maris Stella and Clifton School accommodate pupils from primary through to high school and are considered to be among the best private schools in KwaZulu-Natal. For little ones, there’s always a waiting list for the established pre-primary schools of Tree Tops and Joyce Broadhead, while numerous others, such as Montpelier Pre Primary and Curro Embury, have strong reputations. Old Durban schools such as Durban Preparatory High School and Gordon Road Girls’ School are good, highly sought-after public schools. Livingstone Primary School has an international reputation for success with children with learning difficulties.
Explore
DO:
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BEREA:
Three main parks in the area are popular for families, wedding
yourneighbourhood.co.za/berea
photographs and having tea and scones. Mitchell Park with its little zoo, Durban Botanic Gardens with its birds and plants, and the smaller Jamieson Park with its rose garden, are highly popular weekend picnic and play spots for families. Resident Evashni Pillay says she meets up with her sister at Mitchell Park every Saturday afternoon. “It’s a great, safe place for the little cousins to play, and we can catch up on the week’s news!”
rgely ews nd , are green art ger
e s s
The changing face of buzzing Florida Road means there’s little you can’t find there. With Urban Lime’s youthful approach to revitalising this important stretch of the suburb, there’s now a vibrant range of mini and shared office spaces for entrepreneurs, with Love Coffee and other small enterprises tucked between the office spaces. The retail sector is small, but select – Cecile and Boyd’s gorgeous decor house is still there and so is the Elizabeth Gordon Gallery. This area is where you’ll largely find mixed-use commercial spaces and the hospitality industry, with a handful of residential homes remaining, mostly at the top end. On the buzzing Florida Road/ Innes Road corner there are a few good eateries and coffee stops set among superb specialist retail outlets including Egg Designs, Colleen Eitzen, Gorgeous De Luxe and Mark Gold.
ard h
d and ke, e rld of ool uch
For sale in the Berea
• Explore Florida Road with its variety of shops, restaurants and art galleries. • Catch live music at The Jazzy Rainbow. • Enjoy a picnic at the Durban Botanic Gardens. • Hunt down great bargains and artisanal food at Musgrave Rooftop Market and Essenwood Market.
EAT: • Cafe 1999: for contemporary Mediterranean cuisine • Unity Brasserie and Bar: for craft beer and sustainably sourced comfort food • Ninth Avenue Bistro: for modern dishes with a Mediterranean influence • Mali's Indian Restaurant: for authentic South Indian dishes • St Clements Restaurant: for Thai-inspired cuisine and live entertainment • La Bella Trattoria: for tasty pizza
SHOP: • • • • •
Musgrave Centre Florida Road Windermere Centre The Atrium, Overport Stamford Hill Road
For rent in the Berea
Median asking price:
Median asking price:
R1,15m
R8,250
Monthly bond repayments
For a typical property (two-bedroom apartment)
For a typical property (two-bedroom apartment)
For a typical property in this area
R2,52m
R895,000
R2,75m
In a complex
For an apartment
For a house
You’ll pay
R11,289
R11,250
R7,745
R15,000
In a complex
For an apartment
For a house
per month
Property Type:
30% house
56%
apartment
14% complex
Property Type: Based on
19% House
R1,15m
60%
median asking price
over a period of 20 years at 10,25% prime
apartment
21% complex
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PROPERTY NEWS
28 JANUARY 2018
Neighbourhood
My business neighbourhood Get a classic cut at Legends Barbershop in Florida Road WORDS: TIVANIA MOODLEY
IMAGES: SUPPLIED
a household name, synonymous with style and superior customer service. Q: How did your business start? A: Legends Barbershop started on a pavement at the local Spar shopping complex in Extension 2 in Eldorado Park in 2011. This was the birth of the brand everyone knows and loves today. When I was on my honeymoon, my partner at the time made some bad business decisions and upon my return, the business had closed and employees were left jobless. I refused to let this setback influence what I wanted to achieve and on 26 July 2014, I reopened the barbershop at Crystal Mall in Eldorado Park Extension 6, this time doing it on my own. Now I’ve opened my doors in KwaZulu-Natal. Q: Why did you choose this area to set up shop? A: T he location had to be upmarket because we target an upmarket clientele. Most of our clients were acquired through the pop-up shops we’ve run at previous Metro FM Awards and Durban July events.
T
he evolution and importance of classic haircuts from previous generations has given way to the rise of classic barbershops with the freshest emollients and treatments. Sheldon Tatchell grew his brand, Legends Barbershop, from humble beginnings and turned it into
Q: How did you find your premises? A: I did market research and visited different locations before choosing Florida Road. Q: Why are the premises ideally suited to your business? A: T he premises are upmarket
Know thy neighbour(hood)
www.yourneighbourhood.co.za
and in the perfect position for our brand to grow. Q: Who are your neighbours? A: Spiga, Kauai and Mozambik. Q: What are the shop rental/ sales prices like in this area? A: Normal rental prices for the area. Q: How many people visit your business each day? A: Our Johannesburg shops see around 180 clients a day. I’m hoping for similar numbers in Durban. Q: Do you have any expansion plans? A: With the goal of the first Durban shop reached, for 2018 I’d like to open shops around the rest of the country, including Cape Town. Q: Do you operate online as well? A: Yes, I have a website and a mobile app. Q: What’s your most popular service? A: Definitely the fade haircut.
SEE FOR YOURSELF: Legends Barbershop 062 531 7788 legendsbarbershop.co.za
TEL: +27 (0)31 560 0350 FAX: +27 (0)31 563 7371 www.danville.co.za
DANVILLE PARK GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL Passion
Potential
Purpose
DANVILLE PARK’S CLASS OF 2017 EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS Danville Park Girls’ High School has established itself as one of the top academic public schools in South Africa. The school has celebrated a 100% pass rate for 24 consecutive years with over 90% of learners obtaining a a Bachelor’s Pass. Class of 2017 The Class of 2017 excelled in their examinations with 98.4% of the class achieving Bachelors Passes. • • •
27% of the girls obtained A aggregates - an average of 2.3 As per candidate. Joanna Smith and Cailin Thorp achieved 8 As There were 12 girls who achieved 7 As.
Joanna Smith 2017 Dux of Danville, Joanna Smith, with her full house of distinctions, excelled both nationally and provincially. Joanna was placed third in South Africa (quintile 5 schools) as well as first in KZN. In addition to being recognised for attaining the best results in the Umlazi District of KZN, Joanna also received Umlazi District’s top Maths result as well as sharing best performance in Physical Science.
The secret of Danville’s success is synergy – a spirit of support and co-operation between management, staff and parents to ensure a happy and productive environment for their girls.
Celebrating
of Excellence
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PROPERTY NEWS
28 JANUARY 2018
Go-Green!
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ntersect Sectional Title Services has launched a comprehensive management service for Green Star-rated buildings and any building seeking to improve its environmental performance – the first of its kind in South Africa. Martin Bester, MD, Intersect Sectional Title Services, says Intersect’s Go-Green team will work in conjunction with the body corporate and the buildings’ occupants and service providers to align the buildings’ environmental performance to the applicable Green Star rating tool
(if certified) and the memorandum of understanding entered into. For those who are invested in, or are developing/have developed a Green Star-rated building in the sectional title arena, this new management service from Intersect will allow for the easy management and application of their relevant Green Star rating tool. Bester goes on to explain that the GoGreen service also applies to buildings which aren’t aligned with a Green Star rating tool but which wish to improve their sustainability initiatives and reduce their overall footprint.
The speed of technological development is just too rapid to ignore, and because of the long-term nature of property investments, planning now for the future is critical. So if you’re renovating, buying or building a home – or if you’re a property developer – designing for the future, rather than the now, is the smart thing to do. CRISPIN INGLIS, CEO, PROPERTYFOX
Confidence in downtown Cape Town T
he latest Central City Improvement District (CCID) annual residential survey has revealed that Cape Town’s downtown residents feel very much at home. The survey was conducted towards the end of 2017. According to Carola Koblitz, communications manager, CCID, the dipstick survey has been conducted online since 2013, with results (as a whole) remaining relatively constant from year to year. There have been some interesting shifts over the course of the past
12 months, in comparison to 2016’s results. “While the respondents are still split around 50/50 between those who own the units they live in and those who rent, what is clearly evident is that people are now staying in their apartments for a number of years – well beyond three years and upwards. There has been a huge jump in particular in the number of people who now say they have been living in the Central City for more than 10 years. In 2014, for example, only 15% of respondents indicated they had been living in the CBD for more than 10 years. In the latest 2017 survey, this now sits at 32% – more than double”.
New R280m Flanders Drive M41 Bridge T he upgraded four-lane Flanders M41 Bridge has opened, linking Mount Edgecombe to the Cornubia Business Hub. The new bridge and interchange has doubled the number of lanes crossing the M41 and enhanced access to and from it. Designed to handle the increased traffic to and from the greater Cornubia development and the Cornubia Business Hub, this is the third bridge giving easy access into Cornubia, with the others along the bridge over the N2 motorway, which connects Cornubia with the
Umhlanga Ridge town centre and the bridge over the railway line and MR79, providing access from the R102. “This key infrastructure development will prove invaluable to the businesses in Cornubia, such as MMI where some 900 jobs have been created. The upgrade provides for increased access to these new precincts that will form part of the new greater Cornubia Development,” says Selemo Sefehle, project manager: business hub (Umhlanga Hills, Marshall Dam and Blackburn Village), Tongaat Hulett Developments.
Neighbourhood
Bedroom trends F
Breathe new life into your bedroom this year with these handy tips from an interior decorator
or most people, the bedroom is a sanctuary. It’s the place we escape to when things become too much and where we rest our weary bodies after a long day. This year, make your bedroom reflect your personality with these trends.
WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER
Wall decoration
IMAGE: GRANT PITCHER
Colour is always a starting point, and although you may favour a crisp, snowwhite bedroom, there’s a range of muted colours taking centre stage. When it comes to paint and wall treatments, it’s still largely about neutrals and soft hints of powdery pigments, says Schane Anderson, founder and CEO, Olala Interiors. “Different hues of blue are coming through strongly, with the lighter shades preferred. Blues always add a certain cool, calm and freshness to an area, but equally, an air of sophistication. This palette obviously works particularly well at the coast, reflecting sea and sky.” Even if you choose to use wallpaper on a feature wall, there are some sensational images, which can transport you to other places. Nature is soothing, so whether you choose sea blues or nature’s greens, they’re appropriate for that step-off-the-planet feel.
Luxury
There’s a leaning towards a sense of glam in master bedrooms; the degree to which you push that is up to you. Schane says mixed metal accents are still very current. “Touches of bronze and copper mixed with cooler white golds are being intertwined and juxtaposed in many textured fabrics and ‘objets’. You can also use shimmering
metallics as trimmings on light fixtures, ironmongery and furniture.” For a sense of luxury, choose handknotted carpets. “If that’s not possible, go for tufted, then machine. For beds, always go for an extra-large king in the master suite and a queen in the guest suite. The trend is still for upholstered headboards in varying shapes, heights and sizes to suit the dimensions and colours of the room,” says Schane.
Window dressing
Curtains are still favoured over other window treatments for bedrooms, as they add depth and warmth, have acoustic properties and soften lines, she says. She acknowledges that at the coast, whimsical, floating-in-thebreeze sheer curtains have a romantic holiday feel, but still suggests a block outlining or blind to limit the light. “Inland, line the curtains. Go heavy on the handle, with sheers or sheer blinds as a backdrop for privacy during daytime, while still letting in light and allowing you to look out.”
Lighting
For lighting trends, Schane says sizeable and multifunctional sculptural lighting makes the space visually compelling while providing a strong and creative special effect. “Hidden light sources and indirect fused lighting combined with gravity-defying designs are works of art in themselves. Pendants work exceptionally well, particularly in smaller spaces, because they keep the floor uncluttered. For pedestals, pendant sidelights free up space for sidetable items like books and look superb.”
OUR PRIME
PROPERTIES OF THE WEEK
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