NAME: Renaissance
LOCATION: 33 St George's Street, Durban CBD
STATUS: Proposed
FLOORS: 16
HEIGHT:
USE: Mixed Use (Residential, Retail)

276 Apartments with CBD and Bay views

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/Renaissance-2.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/RenaissanceFlyer1.jpg

Ugh, very ugly. Reminds me of the concrete hell in Sandton opposite Investec. Not nice :(

yeah not quite the best looker by a bit.

work starts in June and is aimed to be complete in January 2009

Not pretty, but what do you expect for those prices?

Shows that the esplanade & Embankment are coming up, nice to see new stuff.

The one opp Investec in Sandton aint that bad, its BIG, but serves the purpose, I almost bought there. This one does look simlar but the colour scheme is different.

I don't think it's bad. It's not going to be anything amazing but it's not like it's going to stand out as any eyesore.

well it is sandwhiched between other buildings so the lower floors will make impact to passersby but not the upper floors.

personally i agree with umhlanga in that it is really really cheap and in an area that aims for the lower end of the market. They arent concerned with stone/steel/glass finishes. They want somewhere great and convienient to live and this will def meet that need.

While Cape Town's inner city developments may be alot more glamourous and hence expensive, i believe that the target for cbd's should primarily be the lower to mid income groups for they need to be closer to work to save on transport costs. Yes you need to expensive places too, but i think in Cape Town the lower income groups have been totally left out.

This development conforms closer to the developments taking place in joburg cbd.

And hey, a 16F new build is not something to ignore, especially when its in St Georges Street.

For those not familiar with durban, st georges runs parallel to vic embankment on western end of the cbd. Its 4 or so blocks from the ABSA/ city hall area

The one opp Investec in Sandton aint that bad, its BIG, but serves the purpose, I almost bought there.

For the prices they charged there, people were scammed. the finish product is not good and not befitting sandton. And now that the emperor is done across the way, it looks very tacky.

oh come it not that bad and the most important thing is that somebody is investing into the cbd :) this is good news

Yeah, good news is right. And I actually think this rendering probably doesn't do it justice. It's a nice and simple, attractive building that will probably look alot better in person.

ok i can agree that this is one that might look better in reality than in render. it does have good lines, maybe just tone down the red

^^Yeh better colour scheme is needed, regarding the one in Sandton, the price range aint bad, I got offered a 2 bedroom unit for R750 000, where as a 2 bedroom unit in the emperor was well over a mill, plus they guys that bought there are mostly from Investec, so I dont think they complaining.

so so , Ill add to Emporis, agree with comments that a better colour scheme could make the world of difference

added

Prob a creme, with a dark brown shade for the red parts

okay it aint my best work on MS Paint, but it doesnt look bad........the colour scheme that is

http://i14.tinypic.com/4cscc4o.jpg

hehe cute paint effort.
these buildings hardly ever have the same colour in real life as they do on a render.

Yeah... it's one of those low-budget crap renderings. The colours will be far better I think we can be sure.

took a drive past the site today. big ad boardings up. sorry i didnt have my camera. looks like work is set to start quickly...good to see

And apart from the bad reneder I think the end-result will be rather pleasing.

I think the render is just horrible. At least with that the finished product comes as a surprise. i hate those glam renders, where the result looks shitty. But this is obviously targeted at the middle income bracket - very sensible because that is what we need in CBD's. And because it is middle income bracket we can't expect it to make architectural history. But I am sure it will blow life into the surrounding area, and that more development will follow.

^^ yeah agreed. The developer is in final negociations for a neighbouring building too with plans for a similar development there. St George's already has many highrise residential buildings, that surprisingly are not in a bad shape from the outside, some are art deco gems.

Any updates?

It's well underway. Can see the crane as you drive into the CBD.

thats good news

Yip, really good news. Greg maybe you can also updates us on other developments or renovations taking place in Durbs CBD.

oh, thats what the cranes for

LOL yeah, i just never in that area, but very visible from glenwood

anyone get to this area to check up on it? should be nearing completion.

first time in 35 years that when I was home never ventured into the CBD so nope from me

Mike, DB, Greg and others just take your flippin cams and go get pics of this development and others that you might find. You might find that there's plenty happening in the CBD but for a fact that you guys don't go there, you missing all.

time to do that is sadly not available to me

http://www.property24.com/Property24/img/P24HeaderImages/logo_property.png

Big Dbn CBD project done in July

2009/02/25

The largest residential project in the Durban CBD in the last decade is scheduled for completion in July this year.

The 17-storey Renaissance building comprises 265 brand new one and two-bedroom flats priced from R395k.

The building lies within the Urban Development Zone (UDZ) which qualifies purchasers for a SARS tax rebate for investing in the CBD equivalent to 55% of the purchase price of the flat. This translates to a non-taxable earnings inclusion in your tax return of R220k for every R400k flat purchased.

To coincide with the release of the last batch of off-plan units, the developer is offering purchasers a R4k rental guarantee for the first year.

There is a rates holiday on the first R120k of value of a residential property and the rental income covers the bond repayments by year two resulting in a net yield of 9% in year one, excluding the UDZ benefit and any future capital growth.

Apartmentbox offers a comprehensive tenant management service for hassle-free rental collection, taking the risk out of CBD investment.

For further information on this opportunity, please open the attachments and contact either Ryan Love (073 104 1124) or Craig Turner (083 555 1950) or reply directly to this email.

For more information contact Ryan Love on 073 104 1124.

thanx for adding in here, i was about to...

check www.apartmentbox.com for more info

mike was this a complete new build or a refurb?

completely new build

any pics of this new "high rise" in Durbs, been a while between innings for resi towers in Durbs. Only Spinaker and this come to mind in the city as being new built over 15F in the past 10 years

its still rising...albert park is not an area i really visit so dont have pics

Please add this article

http://vne-resource.iol.co.za/24/picdb/page_thumbs/medium_new/page_14217578.jpg

Guys, where is Albert Park? Its in the CBD right but in relation to say the beachfront or City Hall?

the area facing vic embankment down by wilsons whalf and then stretching in towards warwick triangle

wrong thread

Quicksilver to the rescue ^^^^ in ref to previous page

R110m high-rise project to boost Albert Park precinct

IN ONE of the boldest investments yet in the rejuvenation of the Durban CBD, two entrepreneurs are investing R110 million in a landmark new 16-storey block of flats in what is now known as Maude Mfusi Street in the Albert Park area.

The development, aptly dubbed The Renaissance on St George's Street, celebrated its roof-wetting ceremony last week and is the brainchild of thirtysomething business duo Ravi Jhupsee and Gareth Went. Jhupsee, an architect and owner of Architronic, is the co-developer on the project with Went, an emergent property developer and managing director of Imperial Crown Trading.

"We are glad to be spearheading such a significant project, which is a vote of confidence in the future of the city centre and the eThekwini Municipality's broader inner-city rejuvenation efforts. We want to see this act as a catalyst to attract other developers and investments to the CBD - particularly the Albert Park area, which has untapped potential, being located a few streets back from the city's harbour precinct," said Jhupsee.

"That is why we have christened the building The Renaissance on St George's Street, because we see it as an important cog in driving the revival of the area and broader city centre. There are opportunities to be had in the CBD, especially for developers because they can take advantage of the Urban Development Zone tax incentive by national government aimed at bolstering CBD urban regeneration efforts in South Africa's major metros," he added.

Went said: "This is our biggest and most ambitious development to date. Downtown Durban has not seen a project like this for many years due to the massive class shift that has happened in greater Durban northwards over the last decade.

"Every architect has a dream to build something as big as this - a high-rise that contributes to the urban environment and inner-city housing. In South Africa the question of how to solve the housing challenge at an affordable rate is a real social issue. We architects often philosophise on how to deal with housing - particularly inner-city housing - but don't get to put it into action.
"With The Renaissance we are doing something to address the challenge. There were risks involved for this project to go ahead, and as an architect I had to become a co-developer in the project to see this project rising from the ground. Gareth Went and I have a history of working together, but this is our first major project as co-developers and business partners, together with construction firm Stedone Mechanicos Building, led by Elias Mechanicos," said Jhupsee.

Speaking at the roof-wetting ceremony, eThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba commended the developers for buying into the city's inner-city urban regeneration drive and urged other property developers and investors to follow.

"We really appreciate a project of this nature and we, as a city, are lucky to have developers like you, together with the major banks that have taken the lead in investing in new buildings and upgrades in the CBD," Mlaba told the gathering.

"The Renaissance project in particular, is very significant for the rejuvenation of the Albert Park precinct, located in a key area near the harbour and part of the broader Warwick Junction Precinct, which itself is in the midst of a major overhaul going into several hundred million rand. This includes the recently announced R350m Warwick Mall development, together with the major new flyover project currently under construction," he said.

Mlaba said the city faced a myriad problems related to absentee landlords and dilapidated buildings in the city centre, and he urged the owners of these buildings to follow the lead of developers and companies that were contributing to the rejuvenation of the city.

Jhupsee said construction on The Renaissance development started in 2007 and was on track to be complete by the end of July.
"We are investing about R110m in the project, which includes 265 quality apartments, four penthouses overlooking the harbour on the top floor, and up to 10 commercial outlets on the ground floor of the building. Local agents Apartmentbox are marketing and handling unit sales in the development, and despite the economic downturn we are very excited that already about 180 units have been sold," said Jhupsee.
Of the units already sold more than half have been sold to investors.

SOURCE: Mercury Network (in the page pic above)

so there must have been a tower crane up, any pics of it?

it took a while to go up, yes there was a crane there

yes and we had a pic of it here awhile back.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq89/diekapenaar/Snapshot2009-03-2015-23-52.jpg?t=1237581140

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq89/diekapenaar/Snapshot2009-03-2015-24-48.jpg?t=1237581159

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq89/diekapenaar/Snapshot2009-03-2015-25-48.jpg?t=1237581174

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq89/diekapenaar/Snapshot2009-03-2015-26-24.jpg?t=1237581197

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq89/diekapenaar/Snapshot2009-03-2015-27-26.jpg?t=1237581212

o_O

luckily its not going to be the colours of that last render shown on apartmentbox's website

Phew.

Was is ever completed?

I think its still going on, should be almost done as the crane is gone.

Thanks DB.

hey guys, thought i would do a drive by while on way home from the beach today...the red really stands out. Sorry the light was fading and i had a mad man driving behind me so this is the best i could get, but it looks basically finished.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/DSC01789.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/DSC01790.jpg

thanks Mike, looking good, yesterdays property had an article on this one, will scan it if I get the time later today