The City of Johannesburg expects to realise R20 billion in expected investment value through the release of City properties to the private sector for redevelopment.

Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, said that the investment will soon be visible in the inner-city with 24 developments set to start within six months.

This is in addition to the three developments already underway in Hillbrow and Newtown, he said.

“These developments come as a result of the prospectus of 71 properties that were released to the private sector in 2017 as part of the Inner City Revitalisation Programme,” Mashaba said.

“These were in addition to the 13 properties council released initially. Council’s approval of the latest batch of 70 properties in February brought the total number of properties released to the private sector for mixed-use development to 154 since the programme was launched in October 2017.”

Mashaba said that developments are predominantly mixed-use, with emphasis on affordable residential units, affordable student accommodation and affordable retail spaces for SMMEs.

However, some developments will deliver solely residential or student accommodation, he said.

In total, this first group of developments is also expected to yield 10,096 jobs opportunities within the city and up approximately 6,500 housing units costing between R900 per month, per unit excluding utilities, to R4,500 per month.

Though plans are still in the approval phase, it is expected that of 1,500 of these will comprise of student beds, Mashaba said.

“The properties are in Johannesburg Central, Yeoville, Berea, Vrededorp, Fairview, Salisbury, Marshalltown, Wolhuter, Turffontein and City and Suburban.

“With these developments set to commence soon, 27 developments will be under construction at the same time in the inner city.”

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