Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has officially handed over the City’s flagship Salt River Market site for the construction of 970 inner-city affordable housing units by developer Communicare.
The development will include 300 social housing rental units and 670 affordable market units and is among four inner-city sites where construction is set to begin this year.
In total, over 3,000 affordable units are set to be built this year, including over 1,500 social housing rental apartments. This would include the sites at Newmarket Street (Foreshore), Pickwick Street (Salt River) and Fruit & Veg (in Zonnebloem, CBD).
Hill-Lewis says the City is pleased to have reached the stage at which the handover of the site is possible.
It follows a multi‑year social facilitation process to resolve unlawful occupation at the site. This included the relocation of 70 informal households to upgraded accommodation in the Maitland area in May.
‘Construction is now set to commence here, and on three other central Cape Town inner-city sites this year. These are the visible results of our accelerated land release programme taking shape, creating thousands of affordable housing opportunities for Cape Town families in the CBD and other well-located parts of our city. This is how we are making under-used public assets work for Capetonians, with a broader land release pipeline of over 12 000 affordable housing units in various well-located parts of the metro.’
The development is being carried out through a public‑private partnership model, with the City contributing land at a 90% discount (around R95 million in total subsidy).
The completed Salt River Market development will offer affordable rental options to households earning up to approximately R34 400 per month.
It will also deliver rentals ranging from approximately R700 to R10 000 per month across unit types.
Chairperson of Communicare, Mark van Wyk, says the plan is to develop the ground floor as retail, a piazza, a day care facility and a sports field.
‘The Salt River Hall will also be restored and preserved for its heritage value. Honouring the origins of the market, our development plans include making provision for the four long-standing fresh produce traders to continue to operate at the Salt River Market.’
