Business sites for tender
[caption id="attachment_35791" align="alignright" width="405"] BUSINESS NODE: Three sites in Fairview are on sale for small business use. The area is being transformed into a booming business node, and several car dealerships have relocated there. Picture: BRIAN WITBOOI[/caption]
SMALL businesses have been invited to buy prime properties in Port Elizabeth's Fairview and Salisbury Park.
The properties are being sold by the Port Elizabeth Land Restitution and Housing Association (Pelrha) in a tender process. The proceeds will be ploughed back into Pelrha-driven community projects.
Three sites in Fairview and two in Salisbury Park, close to Mount Pleasant, would be awarded on a point system, with land claimants and their descendants scoring extra points in the tender process, Pelrha executive director Clive Felix said yesterday.
Claimants include people who were forcibly removed from areas such as Fairview, Salisbury Park, South End and Korsten under apartheid.
"The Salisbury Park sites are located in the residential area and would be suitable for something like a convenience store or doctor's surgery.
"The Fairview sites are close to William Moffett Expressway, where a lot of vehicle dealerships have relocated. The sites could be used by small businesses that can add value to this, for instance a spare parts shop, but the business use is not restricted to this in any way," Felix said.
The proceeds from the land sales would be ploughed back into future community projects in Fairview, but was not limited to the area, he said.
These projects include a bursary scheme which is run by an independent trust as well as a planned community centre and sports facility in Fairview, that is still in the planning phase.
The booming business node at Fairview is complemented by a growing residential area, where a mix of both affordable and middle-class homes have been erected.
The Fairview Link in Restitution Avenue offers 368 bachelor and one- and two bedroomed apartments. It is being developed by the not-for-profit Section 21 company Imizi Housing, on land made available by Pelrha through an agreement with Imizi.
A number of units had been set aside for land claimants.
A church, hospital, several residential complexes, free-standing homes as well as a retirement village are also being developed in the Fairview-Lorraine area between William Moffett Expressway and Circular Drive.
Some road upgrades in the area include Circular Drive, which was widened in front of the proposed 120-bed private hospital development, as well as Pine Road.
The tenders for the five small business sites were advertised this week and close on Friday July 11.
The tender process is being handled by Joubert Nell of InConsult Engineers.
Nell yesterday confirmed the sites were zoned for small business use.
The sites would be evaluated on a point system, as specified by Pelrha, he said. - Cindy Preller
