Cape Quarter renovated

All the renovations and green retrofitting undertaken have been handled by the centre's management company, Spire Property Management.

Property manager, St John Gardner, explains that the lighting retrofit at the Cape Quarter involved all the flourescent lighting in the basement parking being replaced with LED lighting. "The cove lighting in the common areas was also replaced with LED strip lighting - allowing for a visual upgrade as well as the obvious energy use reduction.

"This lighting retrofit has resulted in an approximate 805,360kWh reduction in consumption per year as well as an approximate 885,896kg reduction in annual CO2 output for the Cape Quarter and equates to an impressive R850,000 per annum saving in energy costs for the property."

PV solar system

The Cape Quarter also received an extensive PV solar system installation where 702 solar panels were installed over a period of four weeks on the roof of the Cape Quarter Square. Results show that the solar panels on the roof allow for an electricity saving of approximately R400,000 per annum.

Through a creative reshuffle of tenants at the Cape Quarter, Spire Property Management has also succeeded in creating an additional 813m² of space which now houses Deloitte's new state-of-the-art Innovation Centre.

To create this extra space, smaller tenants that were occupying individual shops on the upper level were moved down onto the Square and what was previously common space has also been incorporated into the new Innovation Centre. In addition to this, ATM's have been moved to a more convenient location closer to the entrance from the parking, and certain stairwells and access points have also been relocated.

"This tenant reshuffle ultimately improved the positioning and maximises the exposure of these smaller tenants, who now find themselves in a much more visible areas around the centre," says Marc Edwards, CEO of Tower. "It also resulted in a far more effective overall flow within the Cape Quarter and triggered a neatening up of the centre, with brand new toilet facilities currently being developed in a more convenient location."

Underutilised space

In a bid to unlock value within their portfolio by maximising the use of underutilised space, Tower, together with managing agents Spire, have started work on the 32 Napier Street development, which will form part of the Cape Quarter precinct and when completed will be made up of 11 residential apartments as well as several retail tenants on the ground and first floors of the building.

"The current 773m² building, situated at 32 Napier Street in Cape Town's CBD, is to be demolished so that the full value and bulk capacity of 2,092m² can be realised and utilised," says Edwards. "In addition to this, three levels of underground parking below the building and stretching down Napier Street are being added. This will add approximately 120 new parking bays to an area that is sorely lacking in this valuable commodity."

Sean Paul, executive director of Spire, says that all of the recent renovations and redevelopments at the Cape Quarter have attracted many queries for space to let by a variety of retailers, and vacancies are at an all-time low.