Cape Town Foreshore Project a Step in the Right Direction
Category In the press
Visitors to Cape Town have often wondered what the city was planning on doing with the half-finished highway that’s long been the site of TV adverts and the butt of many a joke. The City has finally announced the plans for its R8 billion development of Cape Town’s Foreshore district, announcing that the development has been awarded to Mitchell Du Plessis Associates (MDA).
“Cape Town has an increasing problem with traffic, especially as the N1 and N2 merge in the Foreshore, added to a serious housing shortage – specifically as it refers to mid-and lower income housing. This development promises to go some length addressing these issues,” believes Bruce Swain, CEO of Leapfrog Property Group.
The development proposes a combination of a minimum of 450 affordable residential unites as well as around 3 200 market-related units. “While making 450 affordable units available certainly won’t change the fact that thousands of people travel from as far as Philadelphia to work in Cape Town – incurring massive travel costs – it will be a start and will hopefully pave the way for further affordable housing developments within the Mother City.
Cape Town property prices have skyrocketed in recent years, particularly on the Atlantic Seaboard, though not limited just to that area, putting home ownership here far out of reach for the average South African”, believes Swain.
With more and more people moving to the Western Cape from other provinces; mainly due to perceived improved governance and safety, and the natural limitations imposed by the city’s geography, it’s more important than ever to look at viable affordable housing solutions within the Cape Town CBD and beyond.
Swain notes that Leapfrog Property Group rental agents in Cape Town report that up to 80% of rental applications in the Southern suburbs (Newlands, Claremont and Muizenberg) are from tenants migrating from Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal. “Despite the current drought it would seem that people are definitely still moving their families to the Western Cape and we’re seeing interest in rentals, especially in the mid-to-lower markets, with no sign of this abating in the near future. More developments like the one at the Foreshore are going to have to be explored going forward,” he explains.
Author: Leapfrog Property Group
