THE City of Cape Town’s coffers is set to swell by more than R26-million with the sale of some of its properties.

This City Council recently approved the sale and lease of 36 City-owned properties with a sale value of just over R24,6 million and a lease value of an estimated R1,7 million per annum.

James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, said the best economic and social value will be derived from the release of these properties for a range of uses, from industrial to community and private sector led residential development.

“In this way, the City is supporting our economic development as smart real estate transactions create jobs through construction, support the socio-economic needs of our growing city, and generate revenue for municipal service delivery,” said Vos.

According to the City all of the properties have been thoroughly assessed and are not required for municipal purposes.

Among the transactions is a 130586-hectare site in Atlantis Industrial for the intended construction of a state-of-the-art cement grinding facility, entailing an investment of approximately R1,1 billion.

“The business will support job opportunities in the area as it will have a workforce of more than 200 employees,” said Vos.

“Atlantis will benefit further with the relocation of an inner city-based going concern to Atlantis Industria, where a site will be developed for specialised storage, collection, recycling and refinery of liquid waste (mineral oil and wastewater).

“The recycling processes contribute to the green, circular economy as the liquid waste is largely collected from the Cape Town Harbour and is then treated and resold to other industries such as textile, laundry and fishing,” said Vos.

Other properties include sites used for social care and community purposes and as such, the sale price has been significantly discounted.

The lease agreements approved by Council also include the extension of a lease for the Maitland Crematorium. This extended lease will allow time for much-needed renovation work to be undertaken on the site and for the vital service of cremations to continue. (Source: City of Cape Town)