Spire redevelops underutilised space

Sean Paul, Executive Director of Spire

One of these projects involved a creative reshuffle of tenants at the Cape Quarter in Cape Town, which succeeded in creating additional lettable space within this increasingly popular centre, says Sean Paul, executive director of Spire.

"Spire negotiated and signed a lease with Deloitte for their new Innovation Centre, which will take up an additional 813m² in Cape Quarter Square. To create this extra space Spire moved smaller tenants that were occupying individual shops on the upper level, down onto the Square level.

"They have also incorporated what was previously common space into the new Innovation Centre. In addition to this, the ATM's have been relocated to a more convenient location closer to the entrance from the parking, and certain stairwells and access points are being relocated," says Paul.

Maximised exposure

This tenant reshuffle is being carried out in such a manner that it improves the positioning and maximises the exposure of these smaller tenants, who will find themselves in a much more visible areas around the centre. It has also triggered a neatening up of the centre and will result in a far more effective overall flow within the Cape Quarter.

The second project is the redevelopment of 32 Napier Street in Cape Town's CBD which is being project managed by FWJK Project Management and will be overseen and ultimately managed by Spire. "A new building is being developed on the site where currently a 773 square metre building stands. This will be demolished so that the full value of the property can be realised and the full bulk capacity of 2,092m² can be utilised," explains Paul.

"In addition to the development of residential apartments, which will generate an estimated 12% yield (which makes the property class more attractive than both commercial offices and retail at this point), three levels of underground parking below the building will be created and will extend down Napier Street."

Valuable commodity

"This will add 132 new parking bays to an area that is sorely lacking in this valuable commodity and these new parking bays will generate almost 24 hour revenue as they will also be in demand at night due to their location to the stadium for people attending concerts and other evening events."

A third project, currently sitting in the planning process, involves the use of unutilised parking space at the DeVille Shopping Centre in Durbanville. Spire have come up with an innovative idea to partner with a storage company to develop much needed storage units in this space which will be available to hire - thereby bringing in revenue from otherwise unused space that is not generating an income for the owners of the building.