Neighbourhood 7 OCTOBER 2018
PROPERTY & LIFESTYLE
Standing tall The proverbial leafy suburb, Brooklyn meets all your residential, business, retail and amenity needs, page 2
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SUBURB FOCUS: BROOKLYN
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PROPERTY NEWS
7 OCTOBER 2018
Neighbourhood
Suburb focus
Brooklyn Here’s what’s happening in property in the area WORDS: BETSIE LOOCK-VAN DER MERWE
*Map not to scale
IMAGES: RENE WALKER & GOOGLE MAPS
Mostly I just love the beauty. Tree canopies, wellkept sidewalks and lovely old houses, feels so surreal... like the scenes in movies in the American suburbs where kids ride their bikes down the road and girls jog with their dogs in these picture-perfect streets. STEFNEY VAN DEVENTER, RESIDENT
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estled in the heart of Pretoria’s Old East, the suburb of Brooklyn offers the best of three worlds: a charming residential area dating back to the early 20th century with its Victorian poise, a sophisticated, bustling, revived business hub, as well as comprehensive amenities like schools, churches, medical and professional facilities, and entertainment offerings. This tasteful neighbourhood offers the ideal space to live, work and play – equally convenient for established families and young professionals. On top of it all, Brooklyn boasts a fantastic central and convenient location just east of Pretoria’s CBD en route to the N1 highway ensuring easy access to main arteries as well as Gauteng’s freeway network.
Property
Property in Brooklyn is relatively expensive, attracting middlehigh to high-income residents, as well as investors and developers. The residential market mostly comprises free-standing houses in lovely tree-lined streets. These are also high in demand as it either offers a tranquil living space in a sought-after neighbourhood, or it’s bought up and turned into guesthouses or professional practices and home-based businesses. Another component is cluster accommodation such as blocks of flats, apartments and townhouses offering a modern lock-up-and-go lifestyle enjoyed by young individuals and couples. Student accommodation in
VEALE STREET
PUBLISHED BY TIMES MEDIA PROPERTY PUBLISHING 1st Floor, Block H, Sable Square cnr Bosmansdam and Ratanga roads Milnerton, Cape Town
this neighbourhood is also popular as it is closely situated to Tuks University. Traditionally, the largest percentage of stable homeowners is documented in the age category of 50 to 64 (almost 42%). However, it is also the category that recently showed the highest proportion of sellers with the younger generation gradually moving into the area.
Schooling
Existing for almost 120 years, the suburb of Brooklyn and its immediate neighbouring suburbs boast a rather impressive collection of well-established schools. Brooklyn Primary School and Waterkloof Primary School are both English-medium public schools that pride themselves in their excellent track record and outstanding performance over the years. Their Afrikaans-medium counterparts, Laerskool PretoriaOos and Laerskool Anton van Wouw, are both top-achieving schools of excellent standing that attract learners from all over the city. Waterkloof House Preparatory School is a well-known independent preparatory school for boys from Grade 0 to Grade 7 and offers boarding facilities to learners from Grade 3. Younger independent schools of good repute (some of which offer education up to Grade 12) located in the area, are Courtney House Learning Centre, Crawford College Pretoria and The British Academy’s Brooklyn campus.
Brooklyn is home to the renowned Pretoria Boys High School which originated over 110 years ago. The prestigious Hoërskool Menlopark situated in Brooklyn’s next-door neighbour, Menlo Park, offers Afrikaans-medium education to learners of the area. Secondary phase learners who excel in sport, can apply to be accepted at TuksSport High School, situated at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre in the adjoining suburb of Hatfield.
Explore
The Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary, located within walking distance from Brooklyn in the suburb of New Muckleneuk, offers a delightful breathing space in the middle of the city. The mixed bushveld, Walker and Argo spruits, exotic plantation and wetland basins, attract a prolific birdlife and some species of small game can be observed. This includes some unique birds like the crowned crane and blue crane. Guided walks at a nominal fee are also offered and must be booked in advance. The well-known Blue Crane Restaurant and Bar is situated next to the sanctuary with a deck overlooking the dam and reserve. Groenkloof Nature Reserve is about a 10-minute drive from Brooklyn and offers different outdoor activities like hiking trails, 4x4 nature trails and horse trails. Game that can be seen include zebra, duiker, kudu, impala, blue wildebeest, ostrich, giraffe and a rich birdlife.
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7 OCTOBER 2018
Neighbourhood
PROPERTY NEWS
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EAT: • Signature Restaurant: fine dining in a classic setting • Geet Indian Restaurant: highly regarded authentic Indian cuisine • Blue Crane Restaurant and Bar: various dining areas next to a lake • Capeesh Italian Restaurant: as Italian as it gets • MooMoo: passionate about meat and everything quirky • Lucky Bread Company: freshly baked artisan bread • Kream: modern cuisine in an artistic environment • Broodhuijs: a trendy bakery famous for its bread, bakes and coffee • Toast Food Co.: The ultimate breakfast, as well as gourmet cakes
SHOP: LUCKY BREAD COMPANY
• • • •
Brooklyn Mall and Brooklyn Square Cherry Lane Shopping Centre The Club Centre Waterkloof Corner
SEE: • October and November: Myriad of Jacaranda trees blooming • Van Wouw House Museum: in honour of the famous sculptor Anton van Wouw • The latest art film at Cinema Nouveau, Brooklyn Mall • Brooklyn Square Rooftop Vintage & Collectables Fair
TOAST FOOD CO.
For sale
For rent
Median asking price:
Median asking price:
R3,4m
R3,564
Monthly bond repayments
For a typical property (three-bedroom house)
For a typical property (one-bedroom flat)
For a typical property in this area
R2,7m
R1,61m
R3,495m
In a complex
For an apartment
For a house
You’ll pay
R32,811
R18,500
R9,800
R24,725
In a complex
For an apartment
For a house
per month
Property type:
62% house
28%
apartment
10% complex
Property type: Based on
23% house
R3,4m
62%
median asking price
over a period of 20 years at 10% prime
apartment
15% complex
T-Bone DRY AGED
GRILLED TO PERFECTION
BROOKLYN SQUARE brooklyn@moo-moo.co.za (012) 346 8888
MENLYN PARK
menlyn@moo-moo.co.za (012) 472 0020
MALL @REDS
reds@moo-moo.co.za OPENING SOON
7 OCTOBER 2018
Neighbourhood
My business neighbourhood The Thyste Traveller is a series of winetasting events hosted by Blank Canvas Studio, showcasing boutique wineries from around SA WORDS: ZENA LE ROUX IMAGES: ANNA PEPPER
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he Thyste Traveller’s intimate series aspires to bring the Cape Winelands to Pretoria through a sensory journey of Thyste (“taste”). Each monthly event is a unique experience, as guests are “transported” to a featured wine estate, where they can savour delectable food and exquisite wines – every course perfectly and artfully paired. Owner Martine Dalziel de Kock tells us more. Q: How did your business start? A: I decided to create the event series to allow great food and wine lovers to experience the boutique and family-owned wineries from across the country. The Thyste Traveller’s name was chosen to honour my great-grandfather, who was a true inspiration. He travelled the globe
PROPERTY NEWS
to explore and experience the world’s culinary offerings, among many other things. I wanted to honour his memory by bringing people together to enjoy good food, wine and company. What makes these pairing evenings unique, is that only boutique, family-owned wineries will be showcasing their wines here. The menus are carefully selected by the chosen chef of the evening to perfect the experience. Each month, the travellers’ stops will have a different feel to them, where I’ll try and create an ideal representation of each of the wine farms. Q: Why did you choose this area to set up shop? A: The beautiful venue where we host the events, used to be my greatgrandfather, Oupa Thys’s, home. No 16 Private Estate is also home to Blank Canvas Studio. The venue is based in Lynnrodene, which is centrally located and are close to schools, shopping centres and restaurant hubs. Q: How did you find your premises? A: It was an easy decision to use his premises to host my events as the estate has been in the family for many years. Q: Why are they ideally suited to your business? A: The venue has a certain magic to it that perfectly suits The Thyste Traveller. The place allows people to feel at home and brings a sense of nostalgia to the events.
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Q: Who are your neighbours? A: A s the estate is in a suburban area, we have a few residential homes as neighbours. Q: What are the shop rental/sales prices like in this area? A: A s Lynnrodene is a major developing area, the prices are quite upmarket. Q: How many people attend your events? A: This is a monthly event, and about 30 to 40 guests attend each time. Q: Do you have any expansion plans? A: Yes, I plan to expand the travels on an actual tour around the Winelands. Q: Do you operate online as well? A: Yes, we do some marketing via online social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (@thethystetraveller). Q: What’s your most popular service? A: Our events! The success of the events is not only determined by ticket sales, but also by the wine sales on the evening and traction that the events gauge.
SEE FOR YOURSELF: The Thyste Traveller 083 944 8075 facebook.com/thethystetraveller
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PROPERTY NEWS
7 OCTOBER 2018
Knysna on track K nysna’s property market is experiencing a rebirth after the fires that swept through it last June. According to Julian Buck, Jawitz Properties Knysna, many of the homes that burnt to the ground have been rebuilt and, as a result, there’s been a resurgence in the building industry. “There’s a lot of building going on and this means that spirits are high and the builders have spare money to invest in building speculative homes, which is spurring on the property market and driving up prices quite quickly.”
Of late, the Knysna area has seen a shift back to properties being purchased for holiday and investment purposes. These properties often have the dual function of bringing in holiday rental income and being a personal holiday home.
At times, these properties also triple as the long-term retirement plan.
According to Buck, prices vary greatly depending on the property’s location. “An average three-bedroom, freestanding home starts at R1,8m, whereas an entry-level, twobedroom property located on Thesen Island, is selling for R5.8m and for R4.5m at the Knysna Quays.”
Neighbourhood
A touch of summer Is it more about how we feel, than what it looks like? Or do the two concepts increasingly talk to each other? WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
Buck adds, “Knysna, and the Garden Route in general, has consistently been an area that delivers good capital growth for residents and holiday-home investors. I would encourage prospective buyers to use this time to investigate the market and purchase that home before the upswing kicks in further.”
When marketing a home, one needs to try and determine the profile of the buyer for the specific property. To attract the right buyer, the marketing needs to be focused and directed to that targeted audience, which will result in a quicker sale, not leaving the property overexposed. CRAIG HUTCHISON, CEO, ENGEL & VÖLKERS SOUTHERN AFRICA
New V&A urban park B
attery Park is a new urban park that forms the gateway to the V&A Waterfront. When it’s completed later this month, it’ll integrate Cape Town’s CBD and the V&A Waterfront through a series of pedestrian routes. Visitors to the park will also be able to engage in a range of outdoor recreation, entertainment and retail activities in various levels of public spaces. The 12,000m² park forms part of the V&A Waterfront’s Canal District and can be accessed from either Dock Road, Fort Road, Ebenezer Road or Alfred Street. A four-story public parking facility is constructed beneath the park with entrances via Alfred Street or Dock Road. When it’s completed the parking facility will offer 1,206 bays for public, residential and tenant use.
Each area of the park contains public walking paths and benches. Landscaping consists of waterwise fynbos and other indigenous plants and trees. A combination of rainwater harvesting and greywater is used to maintain the plants. David Green, CEO, V&A Waterfront, says, “A key objective of the V&A Waterfront has always been to re-establish the connection between the city and the sea, which we’ve achieved with the pedestrian path that runs alongside the canal. Equally important, the ruins of the historic Amsterdam Battery have been retained in the park as a new heritage site. A key focus of the development was also to offer views of the Waterfront and the surrounding CBD, as well as retain and enhance the historically important line of sight between the battery and the Noon Day gun site on Signal Hill.”
Recession pep talk for buyers and sellers
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s South Africa enters another recession, property buyers and sellers are being advised that they need to adjust to market realities. “It’s important for consumers, sellers and buyers to filter out the noise and misinformation and focus on facts, including that nobody is coming to take your house,” says Seeff Property Group chairman Samuel Seeff. “It’s still safe to invest in property.” While the property market is in a downward trend, Seeff says that it’s by no means the worst market that he has seen during more than 30 years in property, and nowhere near the lows of the 2008 global financial crisis. “Banks are still
lending and home loans granted are in fact up year on year,” he says.
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here’s little doubt that worldwide, there’s a longing for a certain authenticity, a natural and organic look and feel indoors.
Summer trends
Decor usually reflects ourselves in some way, but at the moment, we’re decorating more around how we’d like to be and feel, than how we are. Words and concepts such as the Scandinavian “hygge” – translated as a cosy serenity – and “lagom” – less is more – focus on a lifestyle philosophy, yet it’s at the heart of our decor. Debbie Schuurman, fabricologist and owner, Walnut Interior Fabrics, says, “Clearly our environment influences our lifestyle, and our homes will reflect this. Never has the trend in interiors encompassed so much vibrancy and, often, over-the-top greenery in wallpaper, carpets and other accessories. Delicious-monster leaves, fern and banana leaves and exotic botanicals are absolute favourites.”
Pam Golding Properties CEO Andrew Golding says it’s certainly not all doom and gloom, citing a young demographic eager to buy property and a financial sector with an appetite to extend mortgages. RealNet Holdings MD Gerhard Kotzé says there’s still high demand in entry-level markets. He says positive houseprice growth in the under-R900,000 price bracket, is “largely due to banks being more willing to lend to first-time home buyers”.
Moving into summer, nature’s abundance is ramping up its role. As the architectural trend of opening up the interior to the exterior accelerates, aside from the connotation of embracing summer, it’s also about opening ourselves up to the environment – from indigenous and botanical prints, to recycling and repurposing furniture. “Our clothing is printed with elephant ears as much as our scatter cushions,” Debbie adds.
“There’s no doubt that the buyers’ market is here to stay for the rest of this year and perhaps well into next year,” says Seeff.
Talking colour, Debbie explains, “In studying trend predictions, and taking note of fashion, we notice a marked change in the forthcoming colours
Colours and patterns
and patterns. There is a definite shift towards golds, mustards and indigo blues. Every hue of green is popular.” She adds that checks are being replaced with geometrics, while florals have lost their blousy feel and are now a lot more abstract giving a clean modern feel.
Wall art
That modern botanical feel has a highly digital element, with virtual realities becoming popular – a wonderful sensation of stepping into a forest in your dining room. Psychotropical is the buzzword this season, where the natural world is juxtaposed with the man-made, and you’ll find this larger-than-life world in digital printed wallpaper, enlarged on feature walls, or as framed wall art. Theresa van Wyk, MD and owner, Smart Art, says their Misty Forest themes and vintage painted floral collections are the most popular themed wallpapers. “Up and coming, too, is the revived raw concrete, and whitewashed, brick-faced textured look,” she says. “When it comes to colours, neutrals are still popular, or prominent feature-themed colours.” It’s quick and easy to change, too – one hour, and you’ve created a new world.
Nature
Natural materials continue to dominate, whether it’s authentic bamboo screens and seagrass mats, or chunky slices of wood as side tables. There’s something summery about offsetting nature with a loud limegreen cushion or shiny metallic lamp. No longer limited to copper, mix it up with other metals like brass and silver, and introduce black for drama.
THE LUXURY YOU WANT THE LIFE YOU DESERVE
C O M E J O I N U S F O R A C O F F E E AT L O O F W H I C H HAS OPENED ON OUR PIAZZA DECK OF THE HOTEL T H E H O U G H T O N H O T E L I S N E A R I N G C O M P L E T I O N . W E A R E P L U S - F I V E - S TA R S E X C I T E D .
Experience the tranquillity of nature, breathe fresh air, marvel at the vistas across the golf course, and enjoy having a five-star hotel, spa and gym on your doorstep – all in a secure environment. This can be your lifestyle, in the heart of Johannesburg. While at The Houghton, come visit us in our newly decorated Pellerade Designs penthouse, Unit 8555, where you can experience the surreal views and serenity first-hand.
OSBORN RD
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Luxury apartment 8555, is available daily for viewings. WARREN BECKER 082 302 3004 | warren@thehoughton.com ASHLEIGH SMITH 073 220 7357 | ashleigh@thehoughton.com Houghton on 12th, 53 Second Ave, Houghton | Show apartment 8555