JHC makes the City safer

The Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) is one that is known throughout Joburg, and City Buzz is going to tell you why.

The company, founded in 1994, is well-known for the number of innovations that they’ve pioneered in the building rejuvenation industry since its inception.

It was in 1997 that the company built Jeppe Oval, the first new inner-city building in 30 years, in addition to performing the first successful building conversion from offices to residences.

In 2000, the company went on to convert the first hotel to residences, while undertaking the challenge of successfully acquiring a commercial loan for a social housing project.

While they have made great strides in building innovations over the years, it’s their aim to make neighbourhoods safer – and that’s the most impressive and appealing to those living in downtrodden areas of the city.

“As you can see, Sylvadale Mansions and Cresthill are just roads apart and that’s because, at JHC, we believe that if we can rejuvenate a few buildings in the same area then we can actively start to make the area safer,” said Karabelo Pooe, revenue manager at JHC.

City Buzz visited Sylvadale Mansions and what was more impressive than the building’s play area to keep children out of trouble, was the building’s conversion from rooms to apartments.

Josie Adler, a social activist, initiated the Ekhaya Programme through which a number of supervised parks and recreational areas were created to keep children occupied after school in a controlled environment.

JHC isn’t focused just on safety – which is one of their main goals – but also to create affordable housing for people to occupy because they recognise that the majority of people who need to live in the city for work cannot afford the inflated prices.

Details: 010 593 0200; info@jhc.co.za; www.jhc.co.za