Meeting to discuss Paarl CBD
2006-01-26
THE central Paarl urban renewal project has finally got the green light from the government, and the planners are forging ahead, starting with a public meeting on Wednesday evening.
The meeting, to inform the public about the revolutionary plans to upgrade the Lady Grey Street area, will start in the town hall at 18:00.
The project includes the development of shops on Patriot Square with underground parking, and the closure of Lady Grey Street between Derksen Street and Main Street, and New Street above Derksen Street, to form a landscaped pedestrian shopping area.
Radical changes will be made to the traffic flow, and the old tennis courts in front of the Paarl Museum will be redeveloped for parking.
The stakeholders are 11 property owners and the Drakenstein Municipal Council, as well as a 40% local Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) conmponent.
The new company will be an ordinary public company structure with basically three sources of funding or shareholding: current owners (40%), BEE (40%) and financial institutions (20%).
Propject co-ordinator Johan Pauw said the first phase (the top section of Lady Grey Street between Main and Verster Street and the area directly south of it) is to cost in the region of R184 million.
The plan is to have approximately 70% of tenants composed of national companies with the rest being small operators like boutiques and other niche shops.
Entertainment will also play a major role and a food court is planned with appealing restaurants and line shops. The ambience will be that of a secure but open shopping experience, and shoppers will be able to walk under canopies throughout the centre.
Parking will be upgraded and ample secure parking will be available, especially in the Patriot Square area where a new food anchor and 7000m² of additional shops will be constructed.
“The area still has to be rezoned and public participation will form a major part of the final approvals and could therefore affect the planning of the CBD revamp,” said Pauw.
The traffic and heritage issues will be discussed in detail at the meeting.
More
News
|
