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Braamies grows through major investment ... and it's not the big things that make a city great. Also important is attention to detail, such as paving and litter.
I SPENT some time during the past couple of weeks with a variety of stakeholders in Braamfontein both west and east of Bertha Street. I also had an opportunity to walk a major part of the area.
Neil Fraser
Still a lot of investment over the macro precinct - it will undoubtedly change even more with the completion of the two transport initiatives currently under construction. The Gautrain Station is being built at a reported cost of R100-million and the Bus Rapid Transit is also planned for this area.
Both are part of larger, multibillion rand transport projects and should have a major impact on Braamies. Already there is talk of linking the University of the Witwatersrand, to the northwest, with the Gautrain Station to the southeast.
The northern area, ie north of Jorissen Street, seems generally quite static after major investment by the corporates of the area now some six years ago. It is the area south that is drawing new investment and that is therefore going through quite a degree of change. So, if one examines "southern Braamfontein" - the strip south of Jorissen Street from the east where the Gautrain Station is being constructed right through to the western edge - there is evidence of a great deal of activity over the past few years.
On its western edge, the previous Everite head office building has been taken over by Samro, which has done a great job in refurbishing and facelifting the building. To its south, on the corner of Eendracht and Smit streets, there is a relatively new residential complex, BridgeView. Interesting to see that although this has been complete for a year or so, the footways on its western and southern edges have never been reinstated by the council.
Corner
This corner is where the M1 off-ramp joins Smit Street. One would anticipate that such a prominent corner, used by thousands of vehicles a day, would be treated with some care. But no, it is a practically unwalkable, unsurfaced area with holes and exposed metal spikes, et cetera all over the place.
We forget that Smit Street is a major and unique west-east linkage that goes completely beyond the inner city through which it traverses, yet it appears to draw little attention from the authorities, resulting in a dismal, bleak and neglected feel. If you have tried to turn into it by car from the intersecting north/south roads from about 4.30pm, you will know that it is also a major traffic congestor! It will surely become even more important as a road linkage with the transportation enhancement in its vicinity.
Walking east, this section south of Wits has a public environment which is greatly enriched with trees but is generally impoverished by a lack of attention at street level. The council electrical workshops are extensively covered in graffiti. Walk down Henri Street and the pavement surface hasn't been attended to for over a year since major cable-laying took place and the open manholes are disgusting and dangerous.
On Henri Street is a very well refurbished mixed-use building, offices of Gatsby Property Brokers - who incidentally tell me that the plans for the conversion of the grain silos in Newtown into residential units have been approved and that construction will commence in July. Evidently some 70 percent of the units were sold in about eight hours!
Adjacent to Gatsby's Braamfontein building, on the corner of Henri and Juta streets, is an historic building, I believe one of the few remaining examples of railway labourers' houses in the area. Decaying and clearly unloved, it is apparently being permitted to rot away.
Diagonally opposite it are the City Parks' offices which are in pristine condition and add positively to the streetscape. Opposite them, in Juta Street, the multi-storeyed Sable Centre is being refurbished into residential student accommodation by Growth Point.
In fact, quite a number of buildings in this area have or are being refurbished mainly as student accommodation prompted by the proximity of the university itself. I would go as far as to say that in 2001/2002, Braamfontein was a commercial/retail area with a smattering of student accommodation - today it is moving strongly in the opposite direction. That provides a whole new set of opportunities and challenges.
Refuse bins
While wandering the streets I witnessed the "workings" of the new Pikitup refuse bins referred to in last month's Citichat. It appears that Pikitup workers remove the black bin bags from the refuse bins, which are then tied up and dumped on the pavement where they moulder for hours awaiting to be collected by the refuse truck, its journey eased by the fact that the bags are on the pavement and can be easily tossed into the back of the truck. As each corner contains at least three (often of different vintage) refuse bins, there are usually a minimum of three refuse bags waiting to be collected on the footway at any one time. Great addition to the urban scene!
Down Juta Street and under the Nelson Mandela Bridge: the underpass is occupied by street people living in utter wretchedness, and also making it more than scary for those who need to use this east/west pedestrian connection. Street people are still a major issue to be resolved throughout the inner city but it is surely in everyone's interests to see that this group in particular is relocated into some of the city's emergency housing. With the extensive private sector investment into the area, a pedestrian linkage such as exists here with a high volume of students moving west-east-west must be kept safe and clean.
Back to the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge - residential property owners who overlook the bridge tell me that the four blue lights on top of the suspension masts, as well as numerous other lights on the bridge itself, haven't been working for at least a year. The Johannesburg Roads Agency blames the "French" design of these lights - but surely this is an issue that can be solved? The bridge has become one of the most photographed locations in the city, day and night, and one would think that it would get the maintenance attention it deserves.
Tree art
I was also saddened to see the state of the "tree art" in Juta Street. The bases and some of the metal sections themselves are full of graffiti.
The lower section of Braamies, east of the Mandela Bridge, has gone through some amazing changes and more are planned. Adam Levy's magnificent refurbishment of an office building into Manhattan-style apartments has certainly raised the bar in regards to quality and style of residential living.
He is currently building high-end retail boutiques around an internal courtyard to the north of his apartment building and tells me that he has recently acquired the historic Lord Milner Hotel and will extend his unique "footprint" into this area. He also plans to revamp the Alexander Theatre into a more exciting entertainment venue.
Opposite Levy's residential complex is the Bridge Precinct, another example of the transformation of old buildings to enhance the urban environment. This has been developed by three entrepreneurs - Justin and Steven Blend and Jonathan Gimpel. The R20-million development includes a showroom, office lofts and commercial accommodation, both new and renovated for the Rosebank College. The development also houses a small restaurant, the Café de La Vie, where I enjoyed a superb lunch.
The Café de la Vie appeared in an article in the New York Times of 14 March headed "SoHo style in Johannesburg" that enthusiastically covers "a new generation of design shops, restaurants, galleries and residential developments". These include Co-Op (68 Juta Street); Tilt (155 Twist Street); Willowlamp (6 De Beer Street); Café de la Vie (6 De Beer Street); Narina Trogon (81 De Korte Street) and the Alexander Theatre (36 Stiemens Street).
Student accommodation
I saw some excellently refurbished commercial buildings in the area. But undoubtedly the major change since I last had a serious look at the area has been the massive amount of conversion of commercial buildings into student accommodation.
South Point is one of the major players in this field. It has over 20 buildings in Braamfontein and I was greatly impressed with the standard of accommodation that it showed me, but more importantly, the quality of life it is offering students. The group's latest investment is the R45-million development of the Orange Hotel in the block bounded by Jorissen, De Korte, Reserve and Melle streets.
Further east, the 1952 YMCA building is being refurbished by Aengus Properties into commercial and residential space.
Maintenance
So, the private sector is alive and well in Braamfontein, but public sector maintenance is not! As one strolls up De Beer Street, one finds water spilling all over the place from open manholes in the street itself. Property owners tell me that they have been reporting the missing manhole covers and the running water for over a year and are still waiting for the problem to be attended to.
Some guys painting stencilled names on the street kerbs were a welcome sight, even if this is prompted by 2010 - maybe it will help council officials to identify where the complaints are sited.
City centre
I also had an opportunity to do some walking in the centre city - the restoration of the Barbican looks spectacular - well done, Old Mutual.
The gutted remains of the Rissik Street Post Office reminded me that the council has still not fulfilled its written undertaking to publish the results of "a detailed investigation into the cause of the fire" as stated by the council on 2 November 2009 - after all it is now five months since it issued that statement. Nor has it categorically stated that the building will be restored - nothing less is acceptable and it needs to remember anyway that it is required to do so under the Heritage Resources Act!
Another gutted building is the old police barracks or Irish Barracks in Marshall Street. Developer Gerald Olitzki has done an amazing job of cleaning up the surrounding area and adjacent buildings - superb renovations and refurbishment - and yet this historic building, owned by the central government, is allowed to sink daily into more distress, negatively affecting the city's urban environment.
Surely the City must be telling Public Works that if it doesn't give an undertaking to restore the building by X, then the City will expropriate the building? It is a disgrace that public servants just ignore these issues and make our urban environment unpleasant.
But the walkabout was also a great disappointment. As I pointed out last month, new refuse bins dot the city like a rash, but generally just add to pavement clutter as the previous five generations of bins haven't been removed. Some rationalisation of street poles would also help - we have separate poles for half-a-dozen different signs.
The recent extensive resurfacing of pavements is being ruined all over the place by being dug up for new cable-laying. Sure, the paving has to be reinstated but how come it is never relaid to the same quality as the original?
Manhole covers
New paving or not, stolen manhole and water meter covers leave pavement "potholes" as dangerous to the pedestrian as their cousins in roadways are to vehicles! They are potential leg-breakers for the unwary pedestrian and receptacles for all manner of detritus. A few multi-coloured, ill-fitting plastic covers are starting to appear and some enterprising souls are even using square cement pavers that, proud of the footway surface, pose tripping dangers.
But the numbers and multitudinous sizes of missing covers are staggering, just as are some of the road potholes. Even with massive rates increases, the public authorities still plead poverty as the reason for what are clearly major management deficiencies and disinterest on the part of responsible City officials and agencies.
Why is it so easy to do the big things and usually do them well, but to completely ignore the small things at ground level where one walks and which one sees, constantly? Attention to detail must surely be a large part of being rated a world-class city, African or otherwise. Lack of attention to detail is palpable but I fear it will be even worse after the 2010 soccer is finished and the major projects are no longer providing the interest and glamour.
I fear a last-minute intense burst of energy in trying to clean up the city, cover the blemishes, hide the offensive, all so as to look good for 2010 visitors and then a return to the laissez-faire ways of the present.
Caio, Neil
Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust Tours
Saturday, 17 April: Walking tour - St Mary's Cathedral
The Cathedral's roots go back to 1887 when Rev John Darragh came to Johannesburg and founded the first St Mary's Church in Eloff Street. In 1905, the block, surrounded by Plein, De Villiers, Wanderers and Hoek streets was purchased.
St Chrysostom's Chapel, on the corner of Hoek and De Villiers streets, was the first section to be built and in 1915 Dean Ponsonby invited Herbert Baker's firm to submit plans. Frank Fleming was the architect entrusted with the work and the first section, All Soul's Chapel, was completed in 1921.
The main building was started on Ascension Day in 1926 and the building was consecrated on 20 September 1929. Besides the religious significance there is so much to see and learn about this beautiful cathedral - exquisite workmanship, stained glass windows, fascinating monuments and interesting items.
Meet Esmé Wiesmeyer and Dennis Adams at 2pm next to the fish pond in the open parking of the railway station - the parking fee for your own account. The cost is R55 for trust members and R80 for non-members. For more information, telephone Eira Bond on weekdays between 9am and 1pm on 011 482 3349.
Saturday, 24 April: Bus tour - Kensington
Join a bus tour through Kensington, an old suburb, with lovely old houses, institutions, schools and some "baddies". Streets are kerbed with stone from the mines and shaded with ancient oak trees.
Meet Winnie and Ernest Job at 2pm and park at the Sunnyside Park Hotel, 2 York Road, Parktown. The cost is R110 for members and R150 for non-members. For more information, telephone Eira Bond on weekdays between 9am and 1pm on 011 482 3349.
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