By Anish Abraham
A cash injection by the Johannesburg Property Company will see the construction of a mixed-use development in Diepkloof that will include a shopping centre, a townhouse complex and a hospice.
Soweto's steady move away from being a dormitory township serving Johannesburg has been given a boost with the construction of a R100-million mixed-use development in Diepkloof.
The development, under the auspices of the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), will comprise a shopping centre, a townhouse complex and an enlarged Soweto Hospice.
The JPC is the manager of the City's property portfolio.
Located within the Diepkloof Business District, the development will take place on a 10-hectare piece of council-owned land, already home to the Diepkloof Community Centre and the Diepkloof Clinic.
Plans to turn the vacant area into a mixed-use development were first discussed in 2004.
"The Johannesburg Property Company has packaged the land and leased it to the developers. The leases will generate half a million rand per annum in rental," says JPC's project manager Alan Dinnie.
"This will serve as an impetus and focus for further redevelopment and growth in Diepkloof."
The shopping centre, called Diepkloof Plaza, is a joint venture between McCormick Property Development and Shanduka Properties that will offer 20 000m² of retail space and cater for both open air and covered business and retail facilities.
With a façade made of a combination of face-brick and cut stone, the complex has been designed to reflect a boulevard feel with wide pedestrian walkways and manicured gardens.
Sired Properties will develop the residential component of the project, at a cost of around R17-million. Aiming to acquaint Sowetans with townhouse living, the complex will comprise high-quality units of 90m² at rental rates of up to R3 200 a month.
A study commissioned by the City's economic development unit in 2003 found that the combined annual buying power of Soweto residents was more than R10,5-billion, R4,3-billion of which is disposable income.
However, the research found that R3,4-billion of this disposable income was spent outside the township.
"The legacy of apartheid left townships as dormitory, single-use areas. This development rectifies this imbalance by providing Diepkloof with its very own neighbourhood centre," says Dinnie.
The Hospice Association of the Witwatersrand will also be developing the 7 900m² Soweto Hospice on the premises, at a cost of around R8-million.
The facility will include an in-patient unit with a capacity of more than 12 000 bed days a year, with male, female and paediatric sections. The paediatric section is the first paediatric palliative care unit to be developed in a previously disadvantaged area.
"All three developments have a minimum of 50 percent Black Economic Empowerment shareholding and are thus all empowering property deals," Dinnie adds. The BEE component to investors participating in the development was a prerequisite set by the JPC.
Development at the hospice site has already started, while construction at the other two sites is set to start within the next few months. Construction of the hospice and townhouse complex should be completed in early 2007, with the Diepkloof Plaza shopping centre being completed later in the same year.
The property company has also identified further sites for office development and Dinnie expects those parcels of land to be released for development by mid-2007.
"Soweto is starting to attract serious investment. This can be seen from the number of well-established developers who are beginning to show a growing commitment to economic development in Soweto," he says.
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