I am very impressed with the Pretoria CBD!
I go to the CBD several times a week and it seems as if vast improvements are occurring. The streets are in an absolute mess due to BRT construction but once this is completed in the next couple of months, the CBD should be quite impressive.
Numerous "old" office blocks have been converted into attractive affordable apartments. These buildings were largely vacant after Joburg stole the Provincial Government from Pretoria and the conversions have breathed new life into these dead areas. In most cases, the residential component has been accompanied by a retail offering on street level with neat modern facades and upgrades to the pavements.
Of course, there are still problems and some of my female conveyancing colleagues complain of crimes such as snatch and run crooks. My biggest issue is traffic congestion (during BRT construction) and the removal of a vast number of street parking bays by the City but there is an improvement to the aesthetics.
I have noticed that City Property are involved in a lot of these refurbishments and the project described in the article below would therefore seem to be right up their alley.
Gareth Shepperson
Commercial and Property Attorney
New property development at Pretorias Church Square
Part of Pretoria's heritage, the Ons Eerste Volksbank building near Church Square, will be preserved and form part of the new R145 million mixed-use development that includes retail, offices and apartments.
An artist's impression of 1 on Mutual, the new development near Church Square.
The building site for the City Property development - located at the junction of Madiba and Mutual streets, opposite the Pretoria News offices and advocates' chambers - was handed over to the contractors yesterday afternoon.