Plans are afoot to turn derelict and unused buildings in the city centre into either mixeduse housing or upmarket accommodation, with Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) chief executive Ashraf Adam already in talks with property owners in the metro.
The plan to tackle and turn around “problem buildings” in the centre is only a fraction of the proposals that the MBDA intends to see through over the next five years.
Nearly five months at the helm, Adam and his team have drawn up the MBDA’s five-year plan, which also includes bold proposals for Korsten and Schauderville, the Govan Mbeki precinct, Helenvale, New Brighton and Uitenhage and Despatch central business districts.
With a budget of R132m for the 2018-19 financial year alone, Adam intends to either continue or initiate several projects including mixed-use housing in the Baakens Valley and Summerstrand.
Other plans that residents can expect to see unfold are the establishment of the central Special Ratings Area (SRA) and the possible review of the contract with the KfW bank which funds the Helenvale Safe Spaces through Urban Upgrades (SPUU) programme.
In an interview with Weekend Post, Adam revealed that he had met with prominent property owner Ken Denton to discuss derelict buildings in Central.“We have already started the conversations with the property owners in Govan Mbeki. I have already met with Ken Denton,” Adam said.
“My approach to the property owners is to ask them: ‘What are your intentions? Let me help you’, because it is in everybody’s interest to co-operate,” Adam said.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has already established a task team to clamp down on problem buildings in Central.
“It’s not our intention to compete with the property market – the value of the MBDA is to bring people to the conversation so we crowd in.
“And that is why my job is to go and meet as many of the players as possible,” Adam said.
“You can see slowly people are beginning to make changes to their buildings.
“It’s going to take a while – it’s not an easy process, but I think that with consistent work, in 18 months you will see a change in some of the buildings.”
Adam said concerns of the effects of gentrification as seen in the City of Cape Town had also been raised.
“Central has the genesis of a really vibrant community.
“The danger is becoming so successful that only rich people can live there, that is the big challenge that we all have,” Adam said.
For Uitenhage and Despatch there are no new plans but Adam said the MBDA would, in the current financial year, investigate what could be done to revitalise the Uitenhage CBD.
He added that the Nelson Mandela Bay Science Centre would also receive a facelift that would reflect the current digital age.
“This will be one of the core interventions to rejuvenate that CBD,” Adam said.
The five-year plan is subject to change after Adam signed a memorandum partnering with the municipality’s human settlements department on major projects.