en.Wedoany.com Reported - The City of Cape Town has handed over the Salt River Market site to developer Communicare for the construction of 970 inner-city affordable housing units.
The Salt River Market is one of four inner-city sites that began construction this year, which together will deliver over 3,000 affordable homes, including more than 1,500 social rental apartments. Other sites involve Newmarket Street (Foreshore), Pickwick Street (Salt River), and Fruit & Veg (Zonnebloem, CBD).
Since 2021, the City of Cape Town has released land under the Mayor's Priority Programme expected to yield approximately 5,000 affordable homes, accelerating the process of releasing land for affordable housing.
Carl Pophaim, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, stated that the completed Salt River Market development will provide affordable rental options for households earning no more than approximately ZAR 34,400 per month. The project offers various unit types, with monthly rents ranging from about ZAR 700 to ZAR 10,000, making them affordable for Cape Town families.
Before the handover of the Salt River Market to the developer, years of social facilitation processes were undertaken to address illegal occupation on the site, including the relocation of 70 informal households to upgraded accommodation in the Maitland area in May, and earlier resolution of commercial traders occupying the site.
Mark van Wyk, Chairperson of Communicare, noted that the ground floor is planned for retail space, along with the addition of a plaza, daycare center, and sports field to create a vibrant public area. The upper seven floors will add 300 social rental apartments, and the nine floors above will add 670 affordable housing apartments. The Salt River Hall will also be restored and preserved for its heritage value. To honor the market's origins, the development plan includes space for four long-standing fresh produce traders to continue operating at the Salt River Market.
Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town, pointed out that the historic Salt River Market is one of the most exciting inner-city affordable housing projects, and reaching the handover stage is gratifying. This is a visible result of the accelerated land release program taking shape, creating thousands of affordable housing opportunities for Cape Town families in the CBD and other prime urban locations, with a broader land release pipeline of over 12,000 affordable homes across various prime sites in the metro. These developments adopt a public-private partnership model, with the city contributing land at a 90% discount, equivalent to a subsidy of approximately ZAR 95 million.
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