Jewel City reconstruction is underway in Joburg CBD
JOHANNESBURG – The first sod was turned by Mayor Herman Mashaba to celebrate the start of the Jewel City redevelopment.
The City of Johannesburg kicked off the R1,2 billion redevelopment of Jewel City in Joburg CBD.
Jewel City has been closed to the public for decades and spans six city blocks that were the former heart of the diamond and precious metals trade in Joburg.
With the assistance of Divercity Urban property fund, the 40 000 square meters will be converted into a modern inner-city neighbourhood. The revitalised Jewel City will reopen to the public with a mixture of schools, clinics, gyms and residential apartments. In the next 18 months, Divercity will launch more than 75 000 square meters of new residential space in the area.
Divercity’s major stake and shareholders, Atterbury Property, Ithemba Property and Talis Property Fund, and the City of Johannesburg’s Mayor Herman Mashaba attended a special ceremony where the first sod was turned by Mashaba.
Mashaba said, “This is a catalyst for igniting the City of Johannesburg. We are a city with a housing backlog of 300 000 and 160 000 of our people are looking for accommodation. One in three people in Johannesburg is unemployed and if Johannesburg isn’t working, South Africa has no chance of succeeding. This project is very important, not just for Johannesburg but also for South Africa, it’s important for Africa.”
Mashaba added, “We are ready to do business. I thank all from Divercity from the bottom of our hearts. This was what South Africa needed. I hope that your investment, your initiative, will trigger other investors to identify the City of Johannesburg as the biggest real estate opportunity in the world today.”
Entrepreneur and non-executive director of Atterbury Property Fund Phuti Mahanyela said, “It is so important to see development and redevelopment right here in our cities. It helps to undo apartheid-era spatial divides and move towards more inclusive environments.”
With the reconstruction of Jewel City underway, its first phase of retail, commercial and residential space will be ready by October 2019. Completion of the precinct will be in 2020.
Details: Divercity divercity.co.za
Share your thoughts on this story by posting on our Facebook page.
Also check out:
City of Joburg ‘at the frontline’ to fight HIV, TB and STIs
Update on City of Johannesburg’s dealings with the shot hole borer infestation
Woman poses as a City of Joburg debt collector, secures R70 000 from a resident
