Cape Town - City Council approval will now be sought to commence with a public participation process for the proposed sale of 7ha of well-located City-owned land on the corner of Kromboom Road and Seventh Avenue.
The land has a potential yield of 800 residential units within a mixed-use development, including affordable housing, open market housing, public open space, and retail opportunities.
The site is made up of several vacant erven with a desktop valuation of R155m.
New City guidelines further enable the discounting of the land sale price to help developers viably maximise affordable housing yield.
On receipt of Council approval, a public participation process will be undertaken to give members of the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed release of the Kromboom Road property for a mixed-use development.
The proposed sale would include a clause to ensure the Kromboom Road land includes an affordable housing component by allowing the properties to revert back to City ownership if the land is not used for the City’s intended purpose.
To prepare for land release, the parcels will undergo a rezoning process to enable the envisioned yield of 800 residential units within a mixed-use development.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “These Rondebosch East erven are among the many exciting sites within our affordable housing land release priority portfolio.
“In the first two years of this programme, we have already released sites with a yield of over 4 200 affordable housing units, including in Cape Town’s inner city and other well-located economic nodes,” said Hill-Lewis.
Mayco Member for Economic Growth, James Vos, said this is a landmark opportunity for the City to use its land portfolio to unlock socio-economic spin-offs.
“By developing these sites, we will provide much-needed residential and commercial space in areas close to vital services, industries and social infrastructure, thus enhancing the quality of life for our residents and supporting our city’s economic vitality,” said Vos.
Mayco Member for Human Settlements Councillor Carl Pophaim said that the City’s affordable housing pipeline includes land parcels expected to deliver over 12 000 residential opportunities across the metro, prioritising mixed market development in a bid to create integrated communities and sustainable human settlements offering not only housing opportunities but also commercial and social amenities.
“Providing affordable housing in strategically located areas can significantly transform the livelihood of qualifying households who earn less than R22 000 a month.
“Thousands of families are already tenanted at various developments around the metro, including Maitland Mews, Bothasig Gardens, Goodwood Station, and the Western Cape Government’s Conradie Park development in Pinelands,” said Pophaim.
The City further continues to engage national government on the release of well-located mega-properties in Cape Town with an estimated yield of around 100 000 affordable housing units, including several military bases, and portions of the Parliamentary Village.
In this regard, Mayor Hill-Lewis and Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson are due to conduct various site visits in Cape Town on August 15.