Rentals in Port Elizabeth's trendy Central from R2.3k

Block by block and street by street, Port Elizabeth’s historic Central is steadily being reclaimed and regenerated as a vibrant hub of live, work, play activity, housing students, young professionals, creative and professional businesses and tertiary education institutions, as well as popular tourist attractions. 

Trocadero Inn on Havelock Street houses 60 students in single, double and three bed rooms at rentals from R1 800 to R2 650 per month.

Andrew Schaefer, MD of Trafalgar, says it is, in fact, rapidly becoming one of the trendiest precincts in the whole city, and a place of pride for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. 

He says in the same way that Maboneng led the way to the redevelopment and renewal of a run-down and degenerate part of Johannesburg’s inner city, Central is quickly shaping up now as a sought-after address for Millennials who favour a new urban lifestyle with their workplaces, retail outlets and recreation options all right on the doorstep - or at least within easy walking distance.

And it was with this in mind, he says, that Trafalgar bought and completely restored three buildings in Havelock Street last year. These currently provide top-quality, safe and serviced accommodation for more than 100 students and young working singles and couples.

“In the meanwhile, we have also been awarded mandates by other investors in the area to manage seven more buildings offering similar accommodation options. Four of these are already almost 100% occupied, and there is huge demand for the other three, which will be ready for occupation in September.” 

Lavinia Apartments on Lavinia Street has 68 single rooms for students and young professionals at rentals from R2 250 per month. 

Rentals in these buildings, some of which are university accredited, all include water and electricity, Wi-Fi and DSTV access, biometrics, CCTV and turnstile access-control, daily cleaning of common lounges, kitchens and bathrooms, and in some cases, a gym and laundry on site.

All the rooms are carpeted and furnished, and rentals start at R1 500 a month per student sharing a triple room, R2 250 for single rooms and R2 800 for a double room.

The process of regenerating Central began in earnest about 10 years ago, when the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) started upgrading Govan Mbeki Avenue, as well as some public infrastructure and historic landmarks, such as the Athenaeum, the Donkin Reserve and, more recently, the Tramways building and the Campanile. 

The hope was that this would catalyse private sector investment in the area, and it did, starting with the multimillion-rand renovation of the old Port Elizabeth Club in Bird Street into chambers for a large number of advocates who can now walk to the High Court. 

The Easy on Parliament, Easy on Clyde and East on Western buildings will shortly offer accommodation for students and working individuals in single, double and triple rooms at rentals from R1 800 to R3 000 per month.

This was followed by Denton Properties’ extensive restoration of the historic Donkin Street terrace houses and surrounding Victorian cottages to form the Donkin Creative Quarter and Donkin Village, an expanding business node that accommodates architects, publishers, photographers, designers and other creative professionals. It forms the core of the vision that international property tycoon Ken Denton has for the whole area. 

Denton says the overall idea is to give the new creative industries or ‘orange economy’ a home in the heart of the city, in a mixed-use, human-scale setting that also contains high-end retail, restaurant and entertainment venues, attractive residential buildings and upgraded streets and public piazzas. 

He says this will provide a great showcase for the exceptional historic sites that exist in Central, and has the potential to also attract a significant amount of tourism and hospitality business to the area.    

Denton, who acquired scores of buildings in Central when it started to go into a decline in the late 1990s, has restored and renovated almost 40 of them to date, including some two-storey blocks of flats and a six-storey office building. He has also sold several others to individual investors to revamp, and is now hoping that the demand from individual home buyers will start to rise. 

The Lofts on Rodney Street offers student accommodation in three bedrooms units at R2 350 a month.

“Being close to the High Court, the St George’s Hospital, the university’s new Arts Hub and several independent tertiary institutions, the upgraded apartments in Central are expected to become increasingly attractive to legal and medical professionals, as well as academics and post-graduate creatives, and that will really reinforce pride and security in the area,” he says. 

According to Sarah Webb, a director of the Trust for Urban Housing Finance (TUHF), which has over the past five years assisted several private investors to buy and upgrade about R80 million worth of residential rental accommodation in Central, it appears that this will happen sooner rather than later. 

She says TUHF typically finances the renovation, refurbishment or conversion of existing buildings to provide affordable rental accommodation in inner city areas that the banks regard as too risky. 

She says they aim to boost urban regeneration in the process and regard it as a great measure of success if the banks start to lend again in an area where they have been active.

"This is exactly what is happening in Central now, and that means that home loans for individual buyers in the area are probably not very far off," she says.