Property Investors Take To Residual Blocks In Inner Cities

Residential property investment is flourishing in Johannesburg's CBD.

Two more business district office blocks are to be converted into fashionable residential investment property. The Steytler will have 22 units ready by June. 37 Quinn Street is likely to have 30 flats and 7 penthouses by December.

All except five of the 3, 2 and 1 bedroom 66.5 sq m to 124.9 sq m apartments have been sold, showing a great demand for residential apartments in the city. One one-bedroom flat on the 1st floor had a price of R417 000. At the same time a 3 bedroom flat on the 7th floor had an asking price of about R1.06-million.

The Steytler is in the middle of the momentous Rand Club and Guildhall Pub, and was originally built 2 years after Johannesburg was recognised in 1886. Corner House, built in 1904, is around the corner. The present Steytler building was built in 1964, where the 1st Steytler structure used to be, known as the MM Steytler Building.

Ludi de Klerk, owner of the Steytler, opines that in the last 6 months there has been better "people presence" surrounding the internal city.

37 Quinn Street, which at one time was the Premier Milling headquarters, is now owned by an architectural firm called Urban Solutions. It plans to convert the building into a combination of residential buildings with 30 flats and 7 penthouses and 2 levels of offices. 37 Quinn Street has been called The New Town. 

Private developers have also contributed considerably to create the residential hub within the Central Business District. Urban Ocean has purchased 10 buildings in the inner city to develop 15 loft apartments at the Corner House. There have also been 135 units built at The Franklin, formerly known as the Ernst & Young building. Urban regeneration is also taking place in inner city areas such as Berea, Yeoville, Braamfontein, and Hillbrow.