Construction on the edgy R100 million 220 Loop Street development in Cape Town nears completion.
Developed by UrbanOn, the inner city development’s units were sold off plan following its launch and the developers expect the last few units to sell out soon. All units are unique with mountain and cityscape views.
UrbanOn director, Andre Krige comments:
“There is still strong demand for smaller compact luxury accommodation to rent and buy in the city and not much available, so early investors in these chic studio and one-bedroom apartments have already seen their assets increase in value.”
Released earlier this year, the State of Cape Town Central City Report (2017) cites that close to 4 000 people curretly live in Cape Town’s Central City – 68% of whom mentioned that they wanted to be closer to work as their main motivation. The other reasons for 2017 included the desire for a downtown lifestyle, as well as the wish to be close to great restaurants and good public transport infrastructure.
“This development certainly ticks all those boxes,” says Krige. “Construction will be completed in December, and we will soon have a show flat for prospective buyers to view. We expect to attract a number of owner occupiers when the holidaymakers come to town in summer.”
Partners Krige and Warren Adler have noticed that there is a requirement in the city for small, affordable but edgy accommodation. This led to UbranOn’s first project; a New York loft style boutique hotel at 53 Castle Street in the CBD – InnsCape on Castle – with nineteen studio apartments and ground floor retail.
“We love the inner city lifestyle, and our concept is to design living spaces moulded by the city around them. These spaces are extensions of our personal expression and we create them with people who are just like us,” say Adler and Krige.
“After the Castle Street project, we looked around for further opportunities and came across 220 Loop Street, a mixed use sectional title building with retail, offices, residential and parking, bounded by Bree Street, Loop Street, Watson Street and Buitensingel. The location is exceptional, in a trendy area with coffee shops, bars and shopping close by, and just a short walk to the city centre“.
“We bought all the office sections and appointed Robert Silke as the architect to convert them into 44 studio and one-bedroom apartments. We wanted a high spec, modern design, and Robert’s vast experience, architectural flair and understanding of inner city spaces made him an obvious fit for the project.”
All the apartments at 220 Loop Street have views of the city or the mountain, and most of the apartments have balconies. Unit prices range from R1.5 million to R3m, and sizes vary from 33m 2 to 68m 2 with the average around 45m 2 .
In addition to the 44 new units, the block contains 27 independently owned residential units, ground floor retail and a 500m 2 office section on the third level. As part of the development, upgrades include painting the building, putting up aluminium louvre cladding, new signage, a new entrance, upgrading all the common areas, new lifts and a state-of-the-art security system. The modern colour scheme is a blend of black, white, dark greys and silver.
Krige says the building is well-run with Pam Golding Properties as managing agents, and a very strong body corporate. There are restrictions on short term letting, so the building favours permanent residents.
“There is an oversupply of short term lets in the Cape Town CBD, so most investors aren’t looking for this option at present. We will be holding on to a few units at 220 Loop Street, as there is strong demand for rental accommodation in the inner city,” says Krige.
“Property in a good location is always a good long term investment, and the location of 220 Loop Street couldn’t be better,” says Adler. “We expect the last few units to sell out quickly now that construction is almost complete.”
