<\/p>\n
The City of Cape Town council has approved the release of an \u201cunderutilised\u201d parking lot adjacent to the Civic Centre for a mixed-use development that will include affordable housing.<\/p>\n
A formal public participation process will now begin, after which bids will be invited to purchase the property. The estimated value of the land is R235 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the sale follows through, the proceeds from the sale will be diverted for maintenance or used to improve the Cape Town Civic Centre,\u201d reads the report tabled before the council on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The development will include an unspecified number of \u201cmarket-driven\u201d affordable housing units. These are different from social housing, because it will likely not be subsidised with state funds.<\/p>\n
Read:<\/p>\n
Cape Town affordable housing projects inch forward
\nHow a company is making affordable housing possible
\nExplainer: What City of Cape Town means by \u2018affordable housing\u2019<\/p>\n
Instead, the city\u2019s model for affordable housing, targeted at households earning less than R32 000 a month, relies on cross-subsidising with high-end units in the same development.<\/p>\n
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The site currently has 355 parking spaces, 70 of which are allocated to the city\u2019s vehicles. Only half of the parking spaces are used on weekdays, the report says.<\/p>\n
The development may be between 20 and 24 storeys.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe property presents the city with a strategic response to long-standing criticism regarding its limited progress in addressing the structural imbalances in the CBD residential property market,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n
At Wednesday\u2019s council meeting, GOOD councillor Axolile Notywala, said land should be prioritised for inclusionary housing. The party had previously proposed a moratorium on the sale of public land in the city until an affordable housing policy was finalised.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Cape Town had an inclusionary housing policy, the foreshore land could benefit some of the over 20 000 City of Cape Town working-class employees,\u201d said Notywala.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the #Land4PeopleNot4Parking campaign identified four other sites that could be used for housing.<\/p>\n
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These were: Parliament\u2019s parking lot on Roeland Street, owned by the national government; Top Yard parking lot on Glynn Street, and government garages on Hope Street and Roeland Street, all owned by the Western Cape government.<\/p>\n
Listen\/read:<\/p>\n
Advancing the social housing debate
\nCape Town delivering more state-funded houses than any other metro<\/p>\n
Bevil Lucas, a leader at Reclaim the City, said developments should consider low-income workers. Affordable housing targeting households earning less than R32 000 will likely exclude people of lower incomes.<\/p>\n
Housing group Ndifuna Ukwazi however initially welcomed the announcement. \u201cIt reflects growing recognition that well-located public land should be prioritised for affordable housing instead of underutilised parking infrastructure or exclusive private development,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
#Housing #development #earmarked #municipal #parking #lot #Cape #Town #CBD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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