Don’t demolish Joburg’s old buildings, refurbish them and reap the rewards
A refurbished building in Johannesburg’s city centre has shot up in value from R1m to more than R6m in just five years‚ showing the potential for investors and development companies to help revitalise the city.The spotlight is on old buildings in the city centre after last week’s fire at the Bank of Lisbon building‚ which was occupied by government departments‚ in which three firefighters lost their lives. Officials are now investigating how to resolve non-compliance and prevent similar disasters in future. Property data experts Lightstone said on Wednesday that talks to address urban decay and rejuvenate the CBD began as early as 2005. In 2015‚ then mayor Parks Tau allocated a total of R5bn towards a project to redevelop 21 buildings‚ mostly tenanted by government departments. The Bank of Lisbon building was bought in 2005 for almost a 10th of its initial selling price‚ Lightstone data shows. Linda Tshabalala‚ head of commercial property at Lightstone‚ said that after the municipal...
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