Demand for residential and commercial property in Cape Town’s CBD is always high. Yet commercial property in Cape Town has a hefty price tag and weak road infrastructure means many professionals living on the city’s outskirts have long commutes that dampen productivity. Although urban planning initiatives have sought to ease commuter stress, our roads are still as congested as ever. These conditions are making property on Cape Town’s outskirts appealing.
Cape Town’s crazy commutes shrinking productivity
A 2011 study by the OECD found the average South African spends 58 minutes daily commuting, and traffic congestion has only intensified since 2011. Often-disrupted public transport doesn’t help the situation, as more people take private vehicles to work in the inner city. Cape Town’s inefficient commutes place limits on professionals’ productivity and contribute to worker absenteeism.
Inner city congestion makes peripheral property viable
Purchasing and letting office space on the city’s outskirts has become a popular compromise. The commercial property that has sprung up at Century City over recent years is a prime example. Long-term plans to improve Cape Town’s transport infrastructure have been slow to materialise, not keeping pace with the large numbers flooding to the city for work from other provinces.
New developments show expansion on Cape Town’s outskirts
Recent plans to build a new Mall of Africa -style retail and office space in Cape Town’s foreshore show that development is expanding beyond the confines of the CBD. As more people invest in developments that find a happy compromise between location and accessibility, we’ll likely see more high profile commercial developments spring up on major commuting routes.
The advantages of securing commercial property outside the city now
Because the CBD is no longer the sole focus of commercial development, investing in commercial property on the city’s outskirts now makes sense. As commercial developments expand along the route from Cape Town to Milnerton and Blouberg (where many city workers live in housing estates), demand for commercial space along this route will likely increase.
What about MyCiTi and other public transport solutions?
Although services such as the MyCiTi bus service that connects Cape Town’s CBD and outlying areas have good aims, protests and other service disruption still create obstacles to greater productivity. This is one of the reasons many businesses are renting and buying office and retail space closer to where low to middle income workers live.
Mixed-use commercial property developments on the rise
Because of the challenges city-dwellers face in finding affordable property to live in as well as affordable commercial space to rent, many mixed-use developments are emerging. Savvy developers are recognising how effective these develops are for giving professionals the means to beat the long daily commutes most South Africans face. The commercial and residential spaces in the Century City area, for example, have shown how effective this approach is.
Commercial space considerations, buying or renting, are clearly no longer just about the view. The holistic approach now plays a far bigger role with green, resource conscious buildings and locations that beat the traffic having significant impact on the final decision. Find well-positioned commercial property to rent or buy on Cape Town’s outskirts now via Commercial Space.
