Tag Archive for: CCID

Andrew Stegmann
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Opinion: How We Changed Cape Town’s Inner City from a Ghost Town to a Thriving CBD

This article was written by Tasso Evangelinos, CEO of Cape Town’s Central City Improvement District (CCID).

Twenty years ago, Cape Town’s CBD was a ghost town after hours. Investor confidence was at an all-time low. The establishment of an improvement district was the only remaining option to reverse the situation. Today the CBD has rising skyscrapers, safe and clean streets, myriad successful companies, inner-city residents, retailers and award-winning restaurants.

Cape Town’s Central City Improvement District (CCID), the first of its kind to be established in the country, turns 20 this year. It is a milestone worth celebrating, and a model worth emulating, as it has proven its worth to Cape Town over the past two decades.

Established in 2000 as a non-profit organisation, the CCID is funded by property owners to provide essential top-up safety and cleaning services in the city centre. Replicating the “Improvement Districts” first introduced in Canada and the US in the mid-60s, Cape Town’s CCID operates in a 1.6km2 geographic area stretching from Nelson Mandela Boulevard in the north to Buitensingel/Roeland Street in the south, and from Buitengracht Street in the west to Canterbury Street and Christiaan Barnard Boulevard in the east.

The CCID was initially managed by the Cape Town Partnership, a collaborative public-private partnership set up to drive the regeneration of Cape Town. At first, property owners were sceptical about the merits of a model that required additional funding when they were already paying municipal rates for the same services.

But 20 years ago, the CBD was a ghost town after hours and a “crime-and-grime” scenario prevailed. Understandably, investor confidence in downtown Cape Town was at an all-time low. The establishment of an improvement district was the only remaining option to reverse the situation. When the CCID and the CT Partnership parted ways in 2005, the CCID became an independent body.

Thanks to two decades of working hard with our collaborators and partners, we can stand back today and bear witness to a CBD that has rising skyscrapers, safe and clean streets, myriad successful companies, inner-city residents, retailers and award-winning restaurants. In doing so, we need to acknowledge the courageous strength of our pioneers – including Cape Town Partnership head Andrew Boraine, the late property developer Theodore Yach and many other property owners – who took the leap in 1998 to invest in the CCID. If we didn’t test the model, we would not have had the Cape Town we have today.

Thousands of people now choose to live in the CBD, largely due to the CCID’s success in creating a safe and clean city with a vibrant night-time economy. In 2005, the total value of property in the CBD was just above R6-billion. Two decades later, this valuation is more than R44-billion, a sign of confidence in the city’s future.

The CCID has withstood the test of time because it offers a model that empowers property owners and many other stakeholders to take ownership of their urban space. The CCID is about doing the basics well and consistently. The effects of our actions are clearly visible. From removing graffiti to cleaning around 72 tonnes of litter each month, the work of the CCID is here for all to see. As Abdul Kerbelker, executive manager of the Claremont CID, explains, the CID model works because it involves a “social contract” to create “a better place for all in partnership with stakeholders, including informal traders, retailers, businesses and property owners”.

The 2010 Fifa World Cup was a game-changer for the CCID, as the whole world saw people walking the streets of Cape Town. It fast-tracked a change in perception and suddenly, the Cape Town CBD was the place to be. As an indication, more than 100,000 people flocked to the city centre for Fifa’s final draw in December 2009. The city hosted eight matches, and the pedestrian bridges and public artworks put in place are still an asset to the city a decade later.

We can attribute the CCID’s success over 20 years to five key factors. The organisation’s ability to adapt and change has kept it relevant. This has been particularly salient over the past few months, as the CCID was able to respond and maintain operations amid a national lockdown brought about by a global pandemic. The CCID offers solutions to problems and tries new things without fear of failure. There is also the ability to bounce back after a setback — again, a trait that stands the CCID in good stead during challenging times.

And most importantly, the organisation relies on people with a “can-do” attitude, who want to make a difference. Having started with the CCID in 2000 as a precinct manager, before becoming COO and now CEO, I understand the importance of being involved in every aspect of service delivery. It is a sentiment echoed by CCID chairperson Rob Kane, who has been a board member since 2007:

“The CCID’s resilience undoubtedly lies in the quality of the people within the organisation. It is not about ‘managing from your desk’, but about being involved.”

Kane says the four pillars of the CCID’s mandate, namely safety and security, urban management, social development and communications, have remained unchanged over many years, “however the CCID has retained its relevance”. As a result, the CCID has been recognised internationally for its outstanding work, receiving numerous awards from the International Downtown Association.

Success is best when it is shared, and we now need to look at how we can tweak this model so that it can be adapted and applied in other areas and business districts where additional cleansing, safety and social services are sorely needed. The expansion of CIDs across the city, and indeed the country, is needed to enhance the quality of life for all South Africans.

I want to see South Africa improve. I want to be able to walk in Hillbrow, or Durban’s city centre, as I can in Cape Town’s CBD.

To find our more about the CCID, visit their website here.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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2019 State of Cape Town Central City Report Launched

Published recently, by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), the report noted that the Central City “held its own quite remarkably” in the year under review, despite 2019 being “incredibly difficult”, according to CCID board chairperson Rob Kane.

Says Kane: “Stakeholders and investors in the CBD have had to cope with the aftermath of the 2018 drought and subsequent water crisis, ongoing load shedding and a tough economic climate.”

Five-part section on on ‘Surviving Covid-19’

Though the coronavirus pandemic falls beyond the ambit of the SCCR report, a five-part section of the report is devoted to reflections on “Surviving Covid-19” by Wesgro CEO Tim Harris, Economic Development Partnership CEO Andrew Boraine, HTI Consulting CEO Wayne Troughton and economist Brian Kantor of Investec Wealth and Investment and Arthur Kamp, chief economist, Sanlam Investments.

Kane acknowledges the “global devastation” Covid-19 has caused, noting that it “has damaged the Central City’s economy”, but its economic performance means the Central City is well-placed to navigate a path to recovery.

Property evaluation

The SCCR report shows that, according to the City of Cape Town’s 2018/2019 property evaluation, the value of Central City property stands at R44.124bn, and that the total value of property investments in the Central City – recently completed, under construction, proposed or planned – is R13.83bn.

This is broken down into:

  • R1,045,000,000 – A conservative estimate of the value of property completed in the Central City during 2019 but which still has to be officially assessed by the City of Cape Town (seven projects);
  • R3,730,000,000 – The value of property, conservatively estimated, that is under construction (14 projects);
  • R5,196,000,000 – The value of property, conservatively estimated, that is currently in the planning phase (11 projects); and
  • R3,860,000,000 – The value of property, conservatively estimated, that is currently proposed and is expected to begin construction within the next two years (six projects).

The Foreshore precinct has emerged as a key property investment node which is due, in part, to the expansion in 2018 of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which achieved a turnover of R277m in 2018/2019. “This world-class venue, which contributed R4.5bn to the Western Cape GGP, was a key driver in 2019 of the Central City’s visitor economy as well as its knowledge and eventing economy, all of which continued to expand in 2019.”

The eighth edition of the SCCR reflects on the bigger picture of the economy of the Central City, looking at property trends, occupancy rates of commercial and residential buildings, retail vacancies, the prominent economies of the Central City and trends in commercial and residential markets.

Among other key findings in the report are that:

For the third consecutive year, Cape Town had the lowest overall vacancy rate of 7. % of the country’s five largest metros. According to the SAPOA Office Vacancy Report (Q4 2019), the city’s vacancy rate compares very favourably to that of Johannesburg (12.5%) and is well below the national office vacancy rate of 11%.

The Central City vacancy rate has continued its gradual decline from a peak of 11.8% at the end of 2018 to 10.8% at the end of 2019 – a decline of 15,127m2 of space available for rent. This is at least partially attributable to the reduction in office space due to redevelopment during 2019.

A new urbanism trend gained traction in South Africa in 2019 in spite of a sluggish housing market, increasing demand for downtown living in the Central City. This has prompted the re-imagining of precincts in the Central City by developers into spaces where homeowners can live, work and play in areas that provide a safe and secure environment with easy access to work. With affordability a major issue for many young professionals, developers are responding with a growing number of studio apartments and co-living units within mixed-use developments. In 2019, small apartments with shared amenities officially became hot property, giving first-time buyers the opportunity to enter the housing market in a desirable city centre.

In 2019, the Central City residential market finally felt the effects of the economic and political headwinds which have dampened activity in the national and regional housing markets in recent years. The distribution of sales across the various price bands was similar to that seen in 2018, with the largest number of sales recorded in the R30,000 – R39,000/m2 category. No sales were recorded in the top price bracket (more than R60,000/m2) last year, while two sales were recorded in 2018.

The report includes separate sections providing a detailed look at key elements of the Central City economy, including:

  • The Art Economy: With Cape Town firmly established as the art capital of Africa, the financial contribution of the creative sector to the Central City economy is undeniable;
  • The Visitor Economy: With three new hotels opening in the Central City in 2019, several mixed-use developments and aparthotels either being constructed or in the pipeline, the CBD’s multi-layered visitor economy continued to expand in spite of a tight economy;
  • The Night-time Economy: There is growing awareness of the potential of the Central City’s night-time economy, but it remains an unexplored resource. A recent research partnership between the City of Cape Town, the CCID and the University of Cape Town will provide a better understanding of the night-time economy of the Central City and how to better use the night as a resource for social and economic development; and
  • The Knowledge and Eventing Economy: The Central City’s knowledge and eventing economy continues to expand every year, driving business into the region as local and international visitors and business tourists stream into the CBD to attend official events and conventions in and around the public spaces in downtown Cape Town.

The report also features a detailed analysis of residential and commercial rentals, and highlights from the CCID’s residential and retail surveys.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].