Bridge City hospital
The end vision of agriculture and agroprocessing group Tongaat Hulett and the eThekwini municipality’s Bridge City mixed-use development, a joint venture public–private partnership north of Durban, is coming together, with the development of the town centre accelerating.
Only a third, or 91 000 m2, of the town centre site area is still available to developers, with a maximum of 300 000 m2 of bulk sites available, including residential-use sites and up to 118 000 m2 of retail- and commercial-use sites.
“Our plans for a functional mixed-use development that combines public-sector sites and services and excellent public transport with private-sector investment is now almost complete,” said Bridge City development executive Brian Ive.
The Bridge City town centre and business estate allows for a wide range of business activities and includes elements of the light industrial, medical, legal, commercial, retail and residential sectors.
The eThekwini municipality had acquired the development rights over five town centre sites identified for social housing opportunities.
“The social housing plans are an essential component of this vision, building on the 48 000 m2 Bridge City shopping centre, the regional Magistrate’s Court – [both of] which are already operational – and the 500-bed regional State hospital, which is under construction and scheduled to open in 2019,” added Ive.
Further, construction on a 150-bed private hospital and nursing home will start shortly, while enquiries for further residential, office and destination retail facilities are being processed.
Local KwaMashu-based developers also recently bought the rights to develop a six-storey mixed-use building at Bridge City, which also includes a petrol filling station.
Bulk infrastructure, particularly transport nodes, are already operational, with the infrastructure for the bus rapid transit system, which will link to the development, scheduled for completion in March 2017.
An existing, operational railway station is positioned below the Bridge City shopping centre.
“The whole picture of what we envisioned for Bridge City is now coming together with the development of key sites within the town centre.
“We are actively seeking developers and end-users who share this vision,” concluded Ive.