Cape Town’s Long Street scores an extreme makeover this season. Buildings are being refurbished or renovated to accommodate inner-city living and 210 Long Street launches its first mini-mall. The Long Street Studios at No 187 was converted from a backpackers lodge and advertised as: “An exciting new release of unique city living.”
Although Long Street has long hosted some residences, these new developments are happening simultaneously and on a much larger scale. Steve Kruger, property developer for the studios, says it is because the city has been cleaned up. “Long Street is eclectic and city living is trendy. It’s becoming like New York or Kings Cross in Sydney. Soon 1 500 to 2 000 people will be living here.”
He says the 15 bachelor units — to be used as holiday lets — were snapped up in two weeks by Capetonians. In another development in Gardens called Wembley Square, Kruger says old warehouses were demolished and replaced with 180 upmarket apartments of which 160 were sold in four days to locals. This is part of what he calls an “industrial city block” with a “lifestyle centre” containing shops, a deli, a gym and a swimming pool.
“This will have a positive impact because hundreds more people will move into the city by 2005.”
Kruger adds that Cartwrights Corner was recently revamped and sold out, as was the Old Mutual Building in Darling Street, an art deco office block converted into apartments.
Jodi Aufrichtig and Nicholas Ferguson, thirtysomething representatives from Indigo Properties, already own four buildings on Long Street, one of which they are renovating into upmarket, yet affordable, self-catering apartments for short-term rental. The apartments, at No 263, are called “Daddy Long Legs” and will be completed by 2005.
“Our intention is to restore the authenticity of the buildings to how they looked at the turn of the century. I’m using old photos I’ve dug up from the archives,” says Aufrichtig.
“There will be authentic double volume ceilings with exposed beams, sandblasted brick walls, the original wooden sash windows and Oregon pine floors.”
Aufrichtig says he is attracted to Long Street’s bohemian culture and history as one of the oldest streets in Cape Town.
Why all this development now? “Big, listed companies who owned property in the inner city have offloaded their portfolios and now smaller investors who are more proactive and committed to improving the area are taking over,” says Aufrichtig.
At 210 Long Street, an indoor parking lot is being converted into shops and dubbed a mini-mall. Architect Leon Loots says the investor is a philanthropist from Luxembourg who wants to give locals a chance.
“The investor said, ‘I didn’t come all the way from Europe to see another Italian piazza, give me an African mall.’”
Loots wanted it to be like a Middle Eastern souk (market). “If they can do it in North Africa, why can’t we do it here?” he asks. “The investor wanted maximum glass with an African look. But Africa doesn’t have an architectural style. Africa has mud huts and load bearing clay structures, so this is the modernised version.”
Loots designed the interior to give a sense of walking in an African village under the shade of baobab trees. “The blue ceiling adorned with coiled metal is a metaphor for the sky and the roof is a metaphor for the trees’ branches, inspired by Gustav Klimt,” says Loots.
At the core of the mall is a dance and musicians’ platform that he says will be used by the likes of the Cape Marimba band, local musicians and drummers. Each shop has a corrugated-iron canopy, which, he says, he is “leaving natural, as a metaphor for the townships and I’ll paint Coca-Cola slogans on them”.
The painter Loots employed only knew how to do Spanish plaster, so he dismissed him and found someone else. “I told him to do it like he would the mud huts in the Transkei, so he smeared on the cretestone with his hands,” says Loots, to whom everything is but a metaphor.
There is still much contention over the name of Long Street’s mini-mall. The investor wanted to call it “African Queen”, Loots coined the name “Kraal on Long” and the individual owners of the six shops, restaurant and mini-market each has a different name for it. Nobody really has a clue, but then again that’s Cape Town!
Baobab restaurant’s hessian roof and circles of rusted metal covering the wall like snake scales, give it a modernised rustic feel. The cuisine is Spanish/Mediterranean/South African tapas. Co-owner Clint Beetge says: “We couldn’t bring a grass hut from Swaziland so we created a mix-and-match of contemporary and cosmopolitan South Africa, not just bundu Africa. Tourists say they only experience Africa at shebeens, we’ve got to change that and then let an African name the mall.”
Asked why he’s investing in what he calls “a village”, Beetge’s partner, Francis Cronje, says “position, position, position”.
“Long Street is the hub of the adventure shops and backpackers. It’s a unique culture, like Rockey Street was in Jo’burg, and it’s gaining exposure. CNN rated Cape Town a top holiday destination.”
Mixed Ideas is co-owned by Raymond Kama and Godfrey Dambuleni, who specialise in the art of wire making. Kama says: “We’re in the line of saving the world.”
What line is that? “Recycling.” Kama says his craft range is unusual in that there are mixed ideas from different artists. He says nobody copies him because he creates limited editions so as not to flood the market.
Kama and Dambuleni grew up in Zimbabwe, which is where they say they learned to make something out of nothing.
“Rich people love recycling. Artists aren’t supposed to use gold and diamonds,” Kama says.
Everyday people is the title of a series depicting lovers; a skateboarder; a pillar climber and a Chinese man made of compressed cans, which he calls “squashed art”. Tortoises and rhinos are made from iron shavings and high-heeled shoes from tin and scooby-doo wire. “For the woman with the love of the shoe,” he says, “these are collectable items.”
Never Again is a vintage and retro accessories store decorated like a 1960s jukebox with pink and mint-green walls and black-and-white checked vinyl floor. “It’s the cup cake effect,” says co-owner Allistair Pretorius.
But where’s the African touch? “We were only told after we set it up that the theme is Africa.”
He says their craft is one-off pieces but no bric-a-brac. “It’s small but you can still find the jewels,” says Pretorius, who thinks the mall is called “The Long Street Arcade”. He and partner Shane Bezuidenhoudt own another shop called Never on a Sunday and want to open one called Never Say Never.
Ndzema, which means “things” in a Ghanaian dialect, is owned by Tanya Jardi Kordylas, who imports craft from Accra. She sells ceramic multi-purpose bowls, aromatherapy oil burners, metal pot holders shaped like tortoises and frogs and wooden fertility dolls.
“I know every craftsman personally. I don’t just go out and shop. These knick-knacks are from my private collection.”
Kordylas is also project coordinator of a group of impoverished Ghanaian women who are given material and taught skills like sewing. “We empower the women in order to make way for others to benefit from our help. We export their craft so they can learn to function independently.”
The Sarang Hut imports sarangs (Thai skirts) from Bali and sells African printed clothing designed by the owner, Carla Rooke, in Port Elizabeth.
Factory Shop on Long sells colourful “Kushner Clothing” for kids and adults, with pictures of African and Australian wildlife on them, at prices that have been considerably reduced. It’s owned by Marvin Kushner, who also trades at the Waterfront.
The Sarang Hut and Factory Shop on Long have not yet opened and the owners were unavailable for comment.