Since the 2oceansvibe offices are based in Loop Street, not only do we like to know what’s being built around us, but we like to keep our readers up to date with the various developments set to go up in the city’s CBD.

We’re nice like that.

So what’s the latest? A brand spanking new 86m high office block as well as an underground court, reports Times LIVE.

As required, publication process for the proposed high rise development opened last week, “less than a year after a vacant site situated directly opposite the building was auctioned for a planned development of a 55m high landmark building”:

Both buildings are situated in the city’s foreshore where a number of developments‚ including the new Netcare Christian Barnard Memorial Hospital and an extension of the Cape Town International Convention Centre‚ have taken place in recent years.

Since 2012, more than R16 billion has been invested in developments in the city’s four precinct.

And there’s more – if you have ever in your life used the Strand Street Concourse for whatever reason, you might have been a little put out recently by its closure.

Here’s what it once looked like:

And this is why access to the underground walkway has been denied for so long:

The city hopes to maximise the area’s commercial and office space with a refurbishment‚ which will include the construction of a municipal court with holding cells.

“The Strand Street Concourse refit project ties in with the over-arching principle of the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan to become a more customer-centric organisation‚” said city Councillor for Assets and Facilities Management‚ Stuart Diamond.

Here’s what it’s set to look like:

Sexy, right?

While we are all for upgrades, isn’t it time we started concentrating on developing areas outside of the already congested city?

Lance Chalwin-Milton‚ Joint Managing Director of property auction house The High Street Auction Co‚ thinks so:

“There simply isn’t endless space for the city to develop‚ and demand for the limited amount of land will keep prices at a premium‚” he said.

“According to the Cape Town Central City Improvement District‚ some 30% of the entire city’s economically active populace is currently employed in the less than two square kilometres that comprises the CBD footprint. That’s an enormous number of residents converging on a very small area to go to work‚ and excludes visitors and approximately 30‚000 people who are serviced daily by the various government departments within the downtown precinct.”

Chalwin-Milton said that investors should also look to other areas of the city including the northern suburbs and Cape Winelands to start new developments.

Makes sense.

[source:timeslive]