Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers have unveiled the Founders Garden inner-city, mixed-use, affordable housing development in the Cape Town metro.

The development is the second of three major inner-city developments that are going to market this year, of which the Leeuloop Precinct, which will yield 840 housing opportunities, has already gone out to tender.

According to the Western Cape government, the R2-billion-plus Founders Garden development will consist of 1 476 social housing residential units and 1 162 open market units, bringing the total to more than 2 630 units.

The high-rise, mixed-use development will be situated next to the Artscape Theatre Centre and will include an early childhood development centre.

This site is also within walking distance of the Cape Town Railway Station, the MyCiti Civic Centre Station and health services.

“Founders Garden…is the second of three major inner-city, mixed-use, affordable housing developments in Cape Town for this year alone, and the largest public sector housing development in the central business district (CBD),” says Simmers.

“Just over 100 days ago, Premier Winde and I unveiled the Leeuloop development, also situated in the Cape Town CBD.”

“This development, along with the other two inner-city projects we have undertaken, is a model of infrastructure development we will work hard to replicate going forward,” adds Winde.

“We are working tirelessly to utilise public-owned land for the benefit of our people, and to deliver affordable, dignified housing opportunities where it is needed the most,” notes Simmers.

“And to us, it is about more than just housing. It is about turning public land into opportunity.

“We are ensuring that we deliver housing opportunities closer to places of employment and close to transport and economic nodes, because we believe that infrastructure must promote spatial justice, empower communities and create job and economic opportunities for all.”

The tender to procure a developer and a social housing institution for the Founders Garden development was advertised on July 25.