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Renewal of iconic Joburg high-rise a response to city’s evolving property needs

JUXTAPOSITION Absa Towers Main stands in stark contrast to the rest of the complex, but it is now being redeveloped

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater

TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT A rendition of the Absa Towers Main redevelopment, which is set to rejuvenate the area

Photo by AMA Architects

29th March 2019

By: Tasneem Bulbulia

Senior Contributing Editor Online

     

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Located at the centre of banking group Absa’s campus in downtown Johannesburg, Absa Towers Main stands in stark contrast to the rest of the complex. Currently stripped out and vacant, the 30-storey building is visually jarring when juxtaposed against the bank’s four contemporary buildings with their modern façades and bearing its newly redesigned logo.

The building remains an iconic city landmark, however, and its redevelopment represents a powerful manifestation of ongoing efforts to claw back the Johannesburg central business district (CBD) from the socially and economically debilitating effects of neglect, grime and crime.

Likewise the redevelopment, being undertaken by Divercity Urban Property Fund, represents not only a new lease of life for the building itself but also a significant repurposing of the property into a unique mixed-use facility.

Absa Group corporate real estate solutions head Wendy Cuthbert tells Engineering News that the initial idea, when the company vacated the building in 2014, was to redevelop but maintain it as an office complex.

After the stripping out of the building the following year, however, it was decided that merely converting the building into more office space would not fulfil the current needs of the area, nor the needs of the bank, the headcount of which was falling.

“We were effectively going to become ‘fortress Absa’, but what the area really needed was more retail, accommodation of a good standard and rejuvenation,” Cuthbert explains.

Subsequently, it was decided that a mixed-used building would be ideal, as it would enable the company to occupy less space, facilitated by its offices’ flexible seating arrangement, while fulfilling its vision of contributing to the community and providing impetus for the rejuvenation of this part of the CBD, she adds.

Divercity, which will own the redeveloped building, began construction activities in January.

Absa has retained the branding rights for the top of the building and is replacing the well-known illuminated Absa signs perched atop the towers. Cuthbert tells Engineering News that the technology for the signs is obsolete and will be replaced by static signage.

Precincts Strategy
Divercity was chosen as the entity to realise this vision because it is focused on not only individual buildings but also investing strategically in precincts, says Divercity chairperson Tebogo Mogashoa.

“It is taking a derelict and nonfiscal- contributing building and developing it for beneficial use, [along with] the surrounding area, which will benefit the city’s economy.”

Following a competitive bidding process, Absa sold the building to the fund, with Competition Commission approval received late last year. This sale is predicated on a sale and lease agreement, with Divercity leasing back ten floors of 10 000 m2 of office space to Absa on a ten-year lease.

Divercity, launched in October last year, boasts major shareholders and stakeholders in Atterbury and Ithemba Property, with the Talis Property Fund forming a major part in the formation of the fund. Cornerstone investors include RMH Property and Nedbank Property Partners.

Divercity has, as part of the inner-city rejuvenation, invested R2-billion in the Absa Towers redevelopment and its other project, the Jewel City redevelopment. Mogashoa indicates that R400-million of this investment will be allocated to the Absa project, and the rest to the Jewel City project.

This investment in Absa Towers and Jewel City represents the largest investment in the Johannesburg CBD since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, says Mogashoa.

Project Specifications

Divercity focuses on inner-city precinct development that combines commercial buildings with affordable residential space to create inclusive and diverse neighbourhoods.

In addition to the ten floors of office space, Absa Towers Main will also include 520 affordably priced residential rental apartments, a floor of coffee shops, restaurants and recreational areas, retail, childcare facilities, a public park and integrated public transport facilities.

The building has 400 basement parking bays, a portion of which will be leased to Absa, while the remainder will be used by residents.

Absa employees will enjoy first preference on the rental apartments, which is in line with Divercity’s objective of developing functioning neighbourhoods that respond to the needs of people working in the inner city, while allowing for the convenience of living, working and playing in the inner city, Mogashoa adds.

“Creating affordable rental accommodation in a mixed-use precinct enables wage-earning employees to live close to work, which is extremely rare by global standards, and especially so in South Africa.”

In terms of retail, this entails a dedicated 1 000 m2 on the ground floor. Cuthbert says Divercity is pursuing the correct mix that will accommodate Absa employees, residents in the building and the wider community – a “complex set of variables”.

Divercity is in discussions with a number of big retailers and has put tenders out that predominantly focus on grocery shops, art and lifestyle.

The ground floor will also host the new home of the Absa Art Gallery, while the fifteenth floor will host a ‘sky deck’. Divercity is passionate about including art in its projects; hence, it is trying to get artworks, such as sculptures, back into city spaces, adds Mogashoa.

Absa expects handover of the office space to take place towards the end of the year, with employees to occupy the office space by April 2020 at the latest.

The 20 floors dedicated to residential accommodation and recreation will be launched in various phases.

Once completed, the Absa development will be valued at more than R400-million.

Meanwhile, Divercity, as part of the project, is advocating for pedestrianisation of parts of the inner city.

As part of a wider neighbourhood development initiative, a pedestrian- friendly walkway with street furniture, lighting and art will be created, stretching from Absa Towers Main to the nearby Maboneng precinct. This urban intervention prioritises pedestrians and people of the local community above vehicular traffic.

“Besides the luxury of . . . a short walk to work, the pedestrianised precinct is also integrated with public transport for those who travel further,” Mogashoa says, adding that the Absa campus is already on one of the main arterial access routes into the CBD.

Holistic Approach

When developers enter an area, especially in CBD areas, there are often justifiable concerns regarding negative gentrification, which puts poorer residents and communities at a disadvantage.

However, Mogashoa is confident that the redevelopment project is the complete antithesis of this, describing Divercity’s approach as transformation centred. This entails engagement with previously disadvantaged stakeholders, while shaping urban spaces that help underprivileged residents and small businesses to thrive in the city.

The fund’s human-centred design approach ensures that its portfolio is characterised by spaces that are fundamentally good for people.

“This Absa development is actually very good for lower-wage-earning people, with our target rent entry level at R3 000 a month. We are answering government’s call to develop affordable housing and create access to good-standard housing.”

Divercity will also pursue conscious development strategies whenever possible, such as using local empowerment schemes and its procurement processes being biased towards small, medium-sized and microenterprises and businesses operating in the CBD.

Further, Mogashoa highlights the projects as environment friendly. Denser urban living nearer to work opportunities is highlighted as an essential strategy to ensure limited carbon emissions, which the Absa project is set to facilitate: it represents the adaptive reuse of an existing but outdated structure, thereby reinforcing sustainability by reducing the need for new building construction, which contributes considerably to carbon emissions.

The new Absa premises is designed to be Green Star SA-rated by the Green Building Council of South Africa.

The residential component of the building will use sustainable materials where possible and employ sustainability- enhancing interventions that limit energy and water use, as well as costs for residents.

Inner-City Rejuvenation

As alluded to earlier, the Absa redevelopment forms an integral part of other inner-city rejuvenation efforts currently under way.

Such efforts include the development and refurbishment of more than 84 targeted buildings in the CBD, spearheaded by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.

Cuthbert highlights that Anglo American is considering consolidating its operational offices into the CBD; inner-city partnerships are engendering further investment in the city; the Gauteng Management Agency is rejuvenating Main street; and the Jewel City redevelopment is being undertaken and is being linked into the Absa campus.

“These greenshoots of rejuvenation are starting to come together, and we are very keen as an organisation to be adding them to our part of town.”

Cuthbert emphasises that corresponding work needs to be undertaken with regard to surrounding infrastructure, such as roads, stolen manhole covers and robots.

This necessitates the support of the mayor’s office to effect things quickly and engender elements such as free-flowing traffic and sufficient security in the streets, she adds.

Mashaba expressed his support for such rejuvenation at the launch of the Jewel City and Absa projects last year, where he also expressed the hope that these two projects will “turn Johannesburg into a construction site” to accelerate his vision of revitalising the CBD.

“This is probably Johannesburg’s last chance to get this investment into this part of town and we must ensure that it is effectively implemented and leveraged for full success,” concluded Cuthbert.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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