The City of Cape Town is planning a multibillion-rand redevelopment of the Athlone cooling towers site which could see it being turned into a smaller version of the V&A Waterfront or Johannesburg's upmarket Melrose Arch.
The site - worth about R1 billion - could also see the development of between 800 and 1 500 residential units, a university campus and a food market similar to the trendy Borough Market in London.
A joint venture between city-appointed consultants ODA and Aurecon, with city engineers and project managers, is investigating a number of scenarios and ideas before a business plan is put together for the redevelopment of the 36ha site, one of the city's most valuable pieces of land.
The city is appointing experts to demolish the structurally deficient cooling towers that take up only a small piece of the land.
Speaking at the first of a series of public meetings on the redevelopment, Stephen Boshoff, an urban regeneration and city development strategy specialist at ODA, said preliminary figures estimate the land to be worth about R1bn and the capital investment for the redevelopment R4bn.
The company has been appointed to develop the feasibility study.
"This is a fairly large piece of land. People who are travelling along the N2 only see the towers and don't realise how big the site really is. It's 36 hectares," said Boshoff.
The site was about the size of "everything" from the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to Heerengracht Street. It is home to the Athlone Refuse Transfer Station (Arts), a coal storage, a turbine hall, the cooling towers and a few smaller buildings.
"Everything on the site is owned by the city. It's substantial vacant land. Our job is to look at redevelopment. We've spent a substantial amount of time looking at existing infrastructure.
"There are a lot of existing services there and not all of them can be removed so we will have to plan around it. The removal of all infrastructure is not possible as it will be too costly," said Boshoff.
Some of the scenarios suggested by the project team include leaving the site as it is but managing it better; developing a local mixed community; creating a major mixed use urban district; creating a commercial centre or starting
afresh.
"So we have five to six development scenarios. It could have a mixed residential, but that must be very localised and not attract people from far afield. Or it could be a major commercial centre like Claremont. The turbine hall, for example, could be a science centre which is in Century City at the moment. The old turbine could also be used for the Cape Town International Jazz festival," said Boshoff.
He said the site would most likely be redeveloped for mixed use.
"We have to redevelop it, it can't just stand as it is now. Maybe it could be a smaller version of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront," said Boshoff.
City official and project manager Tony Marks said the project was "really exciting and interesting".
"If one of the scenarios works, it's going to have to be mixed. We can't focus on one form," said Marks.
Boshoff said that, once complete, the feasibility study and its recommendations would be given to council to assist political leadership to make informed decisions in the public interest.
The redevelopment would require leadership and political will, comparable to efforts in establishing the V&A Waterfront, the CTICC and the 2010 stadium.
However, the city's plans were not met without resistance from Pinelands residents, with one resident saying the creation of 1 500 residential units would create an unwanted influx of people.
"Have you considered using the site for what it was intended for? How are you going to handle the traffic with 1 500 people? And when you're using it for entertainment surely there's going to be noise? We already pick up noise from River Park and Athlone Stadium.
"This will be like adding another 1 500 cars and 1 500 people and we already have Old Mutual," said Kevin Bibbs of Pinelands.
Riad Davids, of the Pinelands Ratepayers' Association, said schools in the area were already full and police stations were stretched.
"Some 1 000 people will need schools and day-care centres. It will be like a micro-city on its own. Now will you have the infrastructure to handle it?" asked Davids.
Boshoff said the site had enough bulk infrastructure and would not have an impact on the surrounding areas.
The site - worth about R1 billion - could also see the development of between 800 and 1 500 residential units, a university campus and a food market similar to the trendy Borough Market in London.
A joint venture between city-appointed consultants ODA and Aurecon, with city engineers and project managers, is investigating a number of scenarios and ideas before a business plan is put together for the redevelopment of the 36ha site, one of the city's most valuable pieces of land.
The city is appointing experts to demolish the structurally deficient cooling towers that take up only a small piece of the land.
Speaking at the first of a series of public meetings on the redevelopment, Stephen Boshoff, an urban regeneration and city development strategy specialist at ODA, said preliminary figures estimate the land to be worth about R1bn and the capital investment for the redevelopment R4bn.
The company has been appointed to develop the feasibility study.
"This is a fairly large piece of land. People who are travelling along the N2 only see the towers and don't realise how big the site really is. It's 36 hectares," said Boshoff.
The site was about the size of "everything" from the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to Heerengracht Street. It is home to the Athlone Refuse Transfer Station (Arts), a coal storage, a turbine hall, the cooling towers and a few smaller buildings.
"Everything on the site is owned by the city. It's substantial vacant land. Our job is to look at redevelopment. We've spent a substantial amount of time looking at existing infrastructure.
"There are a lot of existing services there and not all of them can be removed so we will have to plan around it. The removal of all infrastructure is not possible as it will be too costly," said Boshoff.
Some of the scenarios suggested by the project team include leaving the site as it is but managing it better; developing a local mixed community; creating a major mixed use urban district; creating a commercial centre or starting
afresh.
"So we have five to six development scenarios. It could have a mixed residential, but that must be very localised and not attract people from far afield. Or it could be a major commercial centre like Claremont. The turbine hall, for example, could be a science centre which is in Century City at the moment. The old turbine could also be used for the Cape Town International Jazz festival," said Boshoff.
He said the site would most likely be redeveloped for mixed use.
"We have to redevelop it, it can't just stand as it is now. Maybe it could be a smaller version of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront," said Boshoff.
City official and project manager Tony Marks said the project was "really exciting and interesting".
"If one of the scenarios works, it's going to have to be mixed. We can't focus on one form," said Marks.
Boshoff said that, once complete, the feasibility study and its recommendations would be given to council to assist political leadership to make informed decisions in the public interest.
The redevelopment would require leadership and political will, comparable to efforts in establishing the V&A Waterfront, the CTICC and the 2010 stadium.
However, the city's plans were not met without resistance from Pinelands residents, with one resident saying the creation of 1 500 residential units would create an unwanted influx of people.
"Have you considered using the site for what it was intended for? How are you going to handle the traffic with 1 500 people? And when you're using it for entertainment surely there's going to be noise? We already pick up noise from River Park and Athlone Stadium.
"This will be like adding another 1 500 cars and 1 500 people and we already have Old Mutual," said Kevin Bibbs of Pinelands.
Riad Davids, of the Pinelands Ratepayers' Association, said schools in the area were already full and police stations were stretched.
"Some 1 000 people will need schools and day-care centres. It will be like a micro-city on its own. Now will you have the infrastructure to handle it?" asked Davids.
Boshoff said the site had enough bulk infrastructure and would not have an impact on the surrounding areas.
- Cape Times
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