Mosi-oa-Tunya
March 21st, 2008, 12:15 AM
Name: Bunkers Hill Hotel Complex
Use: Mixed Use consisting of a five-star hotel and luxury apartments
Floors: 3 towers consisting of a 26F hotel and two 21F apartment blocks
Status: Proposed
Location: Bunkers Hill suburb near East London
Hotel plan angers residents
http://images.dispatch.co.za/0/08/0000000823.jpg
POINT OF CONTENTION: An artist’s impression of the proposed R700m hotel.
Dispatch Online
2008/02/04
It will steal our view say Bunkers Hill, Baysville folk
A PROPOSED multi-million rand plan to build East London’s first ever five-star hotel and two luxury apartment buildings in the pristine suburb of Bunkers Hill, has residents up in arms as they fight to keep their view.
Most feel that if the development goes ahead their views will be compromised.
The residents are reacting to local developer Grant Furstenburg’s plans to invest about R700 million in a 26-storey luxury hotel and two apartment buildings of 21 storeys each. This amount is likely to escalate, he said this week.
Furstenburg has already signed a deal to purchase the land that houses the bird park in John Bailie Drive for about R25 million. The land is owned by Owen Sanders, who paid about R48000 for the 6568 square metre property when he bought it about ten years ago.
The then transitional local council granted him permission to utilise the property for a botanical garden and bird park. “When I bought the property, there were no services like sewerage. I had to foot the bill for infrastructure,” Sanders told the Saturday Dispatch.
He decided to sell the property because it had become too costly for him to maintain and the flamingo bird park is under-used.
“About 23 (people) visited the park during the December holiday and they didn’t even pay,” said Sanders.
Furstenburg has already submitted a proposal to Buffalo City Municipality asking for permission to buy the property and to develop it.
“East London is one of the few places that does not have a five-star hotel. The world is demanding. If they are going to play golf, they want all the glitz and glamour that goes with it. There aren’t many golf courses with a five-star hotel on it,” said Furstenburg.
But residents of Bunkers Hill and Baysville are against this development, saying it will lead to traffic congestion in John Bailie Drive.
“It is going to be a scar on the face of East London,” said Paul Steyn, who lives about 200 metres from the proposed development site.
Steyn, who also described the development as “grotesque”, said the hotel and apartments belong on the beachfront and not in a residential area.
Linda Warner, also of Bunkers Hill, said there were about 130 objections from residents of the area thus far. “We don’t want to stop development; it should just be in the right places,” said Warner.
It is however still not clear if the development will get the green light from the municipality as when Sanders bought the property, there were conditions attached to the Deed of Transfer that restricts the sale of the land.
According to these conditions, the owner shall not:
lSell or dispose of the erf without it being developed as a botanical garden and bird park; or
lSell or dispose of at any time any portion of the erf, unless he shall first have offered such an erf or portion thereof as the case may be to the said Transitional Local Council at the original price, calculated proportionally per square metre.
“All I can do is put my case forward and allow the municipality to assess it. The decision lies with them,” Furstenburg said.
Residents have until February 8 to submit objections to the municipality. Thereafter the proposal and objections will be reviewed by the municipality and go through the normal council processes before a decision is made. - By CHERI-ANN JAMES
Council Reporter
Use: Mixed Use consisting of a five-star hotel and luxury apartments
Floors: 3 towers consisting of a 26F hotel and two 21F apartment blocks
Status: Proposed
Location: Bunkers Hill suburb near East London
Hotel plan angers residents
http://images.dispatch.co.za/0/08/0000000823.jpg
POINT OF CONTENTION: An artist’s impression of the proposed R700m hotel.
Dispatch Online
2008/02/04
It will steal our view say Bunkers Hill, Baysville folk
A PROPOSED multi-million rand plan to build East London’s first ever five-star hotel and two luxury apartment buildings in the pristine suburb of Bunkers Hill, has residents up in arms as they fight to keep their view.
Most feel that if the development goes ahead their views will be compromised.
The residents are reacting to local developer Grant Furstenburg’s plans to invest about R700 million in a 26-storey luxury hotel and two apartment buildings of 21 storeys each. This amount is likely to escalate, he said this week.
Furstenburg has already signed a deal to purchase the land that houses the bird park in John Bailie Drive for about R25 million. The land is owned by Owen Sanders, who paid about R48000 for the 6568 square metre property when he bought it about ten years ago.
The then transitional local council granted him permission to utilise the property for a botanical garden and bird park. “When I bought the property, there were no services like sewerage. I had to foot the bill for infrastructure,” Sanders told the Saturday Dispatch.
He decided to sell the property because it had become too costly for him to maintain and the flamingo bird park is under-used.
“About 23 (people) visited the park during the December holiday and they didn’t even pay,” said Sanders.
Furstenburg has already submitted a proposal to Buffalo City Municipality asking for permission to buy the property and to develop it.
“East London is one of the few places that does not have a five-star hotel. The world is demanding. If they are going to play golf, they want all the glitz and glamour that goes with it. There aren’t many golf courses with a five-star hotel on it,” said Furstenburg.
But residents of Bunkers Hill and Baysville are against this development, saying it will lead to traffic congestion in John Bailie Drive.
“It is going to be a scar on the face of East London,” said Paul Steyn, who lives about 200 metres from the proposed development site.
Steyn, who also described the development as “grotesque”, said the hotel and apartments belong on the beachfront and not in a residential area.
Linda Warner, also of Bunkers Hill, said there were about 130 objections from residents of the area thus far. “We don’t want to stop development; it should just be in the right places,” said Warner.
It is however still not clear if the development will get the green light from the municipality as when Sanders bought the property, there were conditions attached to the Deed of Transfer that restricts the sale of the land.
According to these conditions, the owner shall not:
lSell or dispose of the erf without it being developed as a botanical garden and bird park; or
lSell or dispose of at any time any portion of the erf, unless he shall first have offered such an erf or portion thereof as the case may be to the said Transitional Local Council at the original price, calculated proportionally per square metre.
“All I can do is put my case forward and allow the municipality to assess it. The decision lies with them,” Furstenburg said.
Residents have until February 8 to submit objections to the municipality. Thereafter the proposal and objections will be reviewed by the municipality and go through the normal council processes before a decision is made. - By CHERI-ANN JAMES
Council Reporter