The Westcliff; JICBC SWOT Citichat 28 March 2002

CITICHAT 12/2002 - 28 March 2002


The Westcliff; JICBC SWOT

EXOTICS AND PRAGMATICS

What have Villa san Michelle, Florence; Reid’s Palace, Madeira; Liliansfels Blue Mountains, Katoomba; La Samanna, French West Indies; Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro; Keswick Hall,Charlottesville; Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, Bora Bora and Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, Machu Picchu have in common with The Westcliff, Johannesburg? They are just some of the hotels in the stable of Orient-Express together with its famous collection.of cruises and trains such as the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, the Great South Pacific Express and the Eastern and Oriental Express. I’m not name dropping, just love the sights and smells that the exotic names conjure up. But The Westcliff is hardly inner city Johannesburg, I hear you mutter. OK but it’s close enough to be kissing cousins with the CBD and is now offering us ‘city folks’ a new much needed facility.

The Westcliff is a rather special hotel as one would expect from an establishment in such an illustrious stable – which I earlier omitted to acknowledge also includes “The Nellie”, the Grand Dame of Cape Town, the Mount Nelson. It has a wonderful setting and a unique design hugging the hillside and overlooking what is claimed to be some of the most prolifically wooded suburbs in the world. If you are a local and haven't been transported up its steep winding road by golf-cart to it’s La Belle Terrasse restaurant and satiated yourself on wonderful cuisine and the exceptional views, well, you haven’t really lived, doll!.

Seriously, whilst The Westcliff is not exactly Inner City, a new state of the art conference centre that close to the CBD is good news indeed. The CBD lost its chance for a major Conference Centre/Convention Centre some years ago when the relevant authorities rejected two inner city applications for casino licences, probably one of the most short-sighted decisions in a city whose history is littered with poor decisions! The casino went to Fourways and the convention centre to Sandton, also an approach that defies all logic. With the resultant closure of the Carlton Hotel, and it did close when it’s application for a casino licence was rejected in favour of the northern suburbs, the CBD lost a popular and well used Conference facility which has not yet been replaced although the possible future refurbishment of both the City Hall and of the Carlton Hotel may resolve that lack.

The launch of the construction phase was on Monday evening. The balmy 'Joeys' March evening provided the ambience for an excellent audio-visual programme cleverly screened against the backdrop of the excavations cutting into the hillside whilst preserving trees and the natural beauty of the site. .The Westcliff Conference Centre is not particularly large but will provide a variety of venues from boardroom size through larger executive meeting rooms to a 120 seater conference room. As one would anticipate, given the area in which it is situated, it has been designed to blend with the residential surroundings. Apart from conferences, I would imagine that this will provide a popular venue for weddings and receptions as its setting is just great and the service outstanding. Completion due first quarter of next year and a meaningful addition to the city's assets.

From exotics to pragmatics – Monday also provided the Executive Committee of the Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition (JICBC) the opportunity to look back at the past two years and forward to the next two at the JICBC biannual strategic workshop.

The following are some (I've trimmed them to just four or five in each category) of the more important aspects recorded in a scan of "Inner City Current Realities" after categorising them into a SWOT format - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats followed by Core Competencies and Key Constraints:.

Strengths

• Improved safety and cleanliness with a substantial reduction in crime in core area

• Accessibility

• Cross border shopping

• Remains a major retail node for black shoppers

Weaknesses

• Perceptions

• Obsolete buildings, particularly high rise, expensive to upgrade and offering insufficient parking - cannot accommodate 1st world tenants.

• Lack of by-law enforcement - MPD does not provide a sustainable presence

• Little previously disadvantaged property ownership

Opportunities

• Declining property values

• High speed train could positively impact on an improved local transport infrastructure

• Increasing residential development

• Emerging niche markets

Threats

• Declining property values

• Poor enforcement

• Insufficient Parking

• Inability to accommodate 1st world tenants in existing buildings

Core Competencies

• Extensive infrastructure _ although there is concern in regard to lack of maintenance

• Access - location - transport hub

• Low Rentals

• Niche retail

• A changing City - New Energy

Key Constraints

• Perceptions

• Redundant, obsolete buildings, parking

• City Bureaucracy

• Enforcement - MPD

• Insufficient residential accommodation and slum landlords

• Continuing Urban Sprawl

Arising from the scan and analysis, the following are some of the dozen Strategic Initiatives adopted for 2002/2003

BUSINESS TO COUNCIL STRUCTURES: Revisit current Council/Business inter-relationship and structures to improve communication and understanding with and quicker reaction by both Councillors and senior officials.

HOUSING: Develop an appropriate approach to housing conversion to ensure that it only occurs where it should and that it complies with all regulations as well as encouraging new mixed income housing development where appropriate

TRANSPORT: Mobilise inner city transport planning and implementation around proposed high speed train

DATABASE: develop a comprehensive database

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS: develop a comprehensive plan with other stakeholders to change perceptions and market the positives

TECHNOLOGY: Investigate economic solutions to upgrading technology standards

SPRAWL: Prevention of continuing urban sprawl, promote adoption of smart growth principles.

In closing this week, courtesy of the Neal Peirce Column, a comment made some 30 years ago by Kenneth Patton, then economic development director of New York City - "Urban economies are the only places that do what America is supposed to care about - the resurrection of people who've been left out, and newcomers who have yet to get in, and are not admitted to other places. Cities are successful in their ability to take people from some point of entry and elevate them to some higher level in the economic order of things. Suburbs look successful, but they are not. They just promote a certain measure of achieved success. They are not creative. Cities look unsuccessful, but by definition they are not."

May you enjoy a good long-weekend break and may it be a truly blessed one, regards,





Neil