Tall & Urban News

Cape Town’s Municipal Planning Tribunal has approved a proposal for the Fulcrum skyscraper in Sea Point to include affordable housing.

The tribunal on April 7 approved the land-use application of the Berman Brothers Group and investors Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) for the residential building at the intersection of Main and Kloof roads to contain 20 percent of the 140 units for affordable housing.

The 60-meter-high residential building is set to reserve 28 of its 144 apartments for households earning under US$1,276 a month. If the development proceeds, this will be the first development in decades to include affordable housing in the seaside suburb.

“This decision is not just about this building, but the cumulative impact of buildings like this over the coming decades. In order to build a sustainable and efficient city, we need the City to promote radical densification in every well-located area,” said Jared Rossouw of Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), a local urban land activism and law center group that advocates for urban land justice.

The City of Cape Town’s team, however, argued against the proposal by the Berman Brothers group, because of the height of the building. The Sea Point Ratepayers’ Association opposed the proposal for the same reason.

Ndifuna Ukwazi argued against the City’s stance, saying that Cape Town “requires dense, high-rise, and inclusive buildings across well-located areas to provide for affordable housing and to address spatial inequality.”

There were also concerns on the impact of the structure on the surrounding areas but Mr Ndifuna gave an assurance that all safety measures were put into consideration and that there was nothing to fear. He emphasized that an environmental assessment was done last year, and the environmental authority gave a green light for the project to proceed.

For more on this story go to Construction Review Online.