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.

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.

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.”

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.

Beautiful insight on the Qwetu parklands residences. Ma braza @mugundaman come see this how modern studio look like from 22min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUbQkR0eE4

The facilities are quite good. Parents may foot the bill for some of the students. Qwetu should look at a REIT at some point.

Beautiful insight on the Qwetu parklands residences. Ma braza @mugundaman come see this how modern studio look like from 22min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUbQkR0eE4

Wow this series is dustbowl heavy!

Wukan, the mystery is how you missed the value propositions of beautiful Savannah Park which is a mere few metres from Rongai SGR station and landed on Qwetu which is struggling with less than 20% occupancy rates! I am not denying that Qwetu is a good idea, I am just questioning whether such ideas have longevity. For example, if I started a capsule hotel on Tom Mboya street, like those in Tokyo, it might catch on as a fad for a few days because Kenyans are a curious lot by nature, but 3 years down you will hear it has closed down when the fad element fizzles out. But a 1/4 bought in Savannah Park today will be the same quarter with improvements (Maisonette etc) 40 years down the line , always growing in value and easy to re-sell if and when one decides to because it is a standard rather than a niche product. Speaking of Savannah, hebu let me run to grab me a plot there before they run out!!!