Following Council’s approval for the in-principle sale of 27 City-owned properties in Khayelitsha, the City of Cape Town is moving ahead with its plan to unlock economic opportunities through the establishment, management and development of the Khayelitsha Industrial Park.
The planned sale of the erven, which comprise an area of some 59 100 m² in size situated on the corner of Spine and Phakamani Roads, forms part of the City’s emphasis on leveraging economic assets to drive sustainable, infrastructure-led development. It is foreseen that the establishment of the industrial park would be subject to conditions.
“In the past, some of these properties were offered to aspiring Khayelitsha business people in the form of leases that included the option to purchase. This was, however, not a sustainable initiative and also led to cases of illegal occupation as a result of non-payment. The site, therefore, comprises serviced land, which is mainly vacant or underutilised.”
“It has the potential to attract investment but discussions with potential investors indicated that the low levels of investment in the area can be attributed mainly to, amongst others, the current layout of the individual sites and the management of the area.”
“The City’s Property Management Department has therefore decided to follow a more popular trend in industrial development by facilitating the establishment, development and management of an industrial park. The advantages of the industrial park concept are that it has a better chance of attracting an array of property investors and national, regional and local tenants. Improved security is also possible by providing a perimeter fence and a single secured access control point.”
‘An industrial park model also helps to improve the marketing, management and maintenance of such a site,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, Alderman Ian Neilson.
The City’s Property Management Department is in the process of regularising three existing illegal businesses by providing them with leases, while clearing the other sites from illegal occupation.
The feasibility study of this site has identified opportunities and demand for the establishment of construction- and automotive-related industries.
The properties will be offered for sale through an open, fair and competitive public tender process on the basis of a land availability agreement, in accordance with Council’s disposal management system.
It will be the responsibility of the developer to develop and to lease/sell industrial space to potential industrialists and to manage the industrial park, subject to conditions.
“As a condition of tender, the industrial estate management will be required to provide a certain number of industrial hives within the park for local entrepreneurs and other small enterprises. It is vital that we drive an enabling environment for increased investment, to support entrepreneurs and to do all that we can to drive job creation. Any development must be to the benefit of this community. Enabling economic opportunities is key to our efforts to enable redress and to improve the lives of our more vulnerable residents,” said Alderman Neilson.
