Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Tertuis Simmers says he is pleased that the student accommodation has broken ground at the Belhar CBD project.
Minister Simmers said: “The sod turning marks an important step in the Belhar CBD project. From the outset, the aim of this development has been to demonstrate what an integrated, mixed-use development could look like. This is so, as this development consists of various types of residential units, which includes Social Housing, FLISP units, subsidised housing units for Military Veterans, and the student accommodation.
The sod turning is a critical step, particularly since the development is surrounded by two of Cape Town’s biggest tertiary institutions, namely the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Bellville campus. There are also smaller colleges within the vicinity of the development.
I’d like to encourage the contractor to ensure that the high standard we’ve already seen in this project is maintained. This project holds various benefits and includes green initiatives, such as heat pumps and window sills, manufactured from recycled material. In addition, borehole water is utilised for building purposes as well as LED street lamps. Furthermore, the units are installed with pre-paid electricity and water meters to curb resource wastage.
I’m looking forward to returning to this development at beginning of 2022 to handover the first of these student units.”
The total development of Belhar CBD consist of more than 3500 units. The student accommodation component consists of 3 modern multi-storey buildings, consisting 2720 beds, which equates to 684 units. The cost of student accommodation is R540 million.
“As the Western Cape Government, we are committed to accelerating human settlement delivery, while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, resilient, safe and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity society,” added Simmers.
