The Cape Town City Councils recent announcement that the original older Green Point stadium, athletics track and clubhouses, parts of which were demolished to make way for the new, highly sophisticated World Cup stadium, will be upgraded to become a 5 500 seater IAAF-standard sports stadium and multi-use facility, is positive news for the Green Point and Sea Point property sector, says Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties.
It will, he says, help fulfil a prediction he made earlier this year that Cape Towns CBD fringe areas are likely to emerge from the downturn faster and more triumphantly than outlying areas which are increasingly plagued by commuting problems.
'In the last five years,' said Clarke, 'no suburb in greater Cape Town has been quite so radically and successfully transformed as Green Point '“ and the effect of this has been felt in adjacent suburbs, all of which have benefitted'
This was confirmed by spokespeople for Rawsons Sea Point/Green Point franchise who said that both sales prices and rentals here have stabilised and are now showing steady increases. Single bedroom apartments in the area can be had for R800 000 to R1 million and larger apartments from R900 000 to R1,4 million. Homes in the area are selling from R1,3 million to R4 million '“ with certain of the high placed mountainside homes priced anything up to R10 million.
Clarke said that the landscaping of the area around the stadia has been a total success and has been done to international standards.
'This,' he said, 'was another good example of how a successful urban upliftment programme can benefit all property in the area'
Clarke added that the R120 million budget quoted for the improvement of the old stadium seems 'optimistic' and he hopes that Cape Town ratepayers, already carrying the R44 million annual shortfall on the running costs of the new stadium will not again find themselves faced with the sort of massive cost overruns seen in the building of that complex.
'The good news, however, is that property here is now a very sound investment proposition'
For further information contact Tony Clarke on 021 658 7100 or email tony@rawsonproperties.com.
