The Village Collective Founding Story
In recent years, there has been a huge drive to revive and revitalise inner-city precincts both locally and abroad. Indeed, one need look no further than the Cape Town CBD for one of the most inspiring urban restoration success stories to date!
Launched in November 2000, the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) came about as the result of local property owners who shared a vision for the Cape Town CBD to rise from the ‘crime and grime’ scenario it had fallen into, to once again become a safe, clean and caring urban environment.
Over the past two decades, this vision has become a delightful reality with inner-city Cape Town now considered one of the most vibrant CBDs in the world for investment, and a welcoming world-class destination to live, work, play and stay.
Somerset West as a potential growth area
With the rise in popularity of malls and neighbourhood convenience centres during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Somerset West CBD followed a similar trajectory to the Mother City, bleeding business and losing patronage.
A long period of neglect and deterioration followed and over time a perception took hold that the Somerset West CBD was derelict, unsafe and had little to offer.
All the infrastructure and natural beauty, however, remained, crying out for rejuvenation and revival.
Recognising this massive untapped potential, a number of local property developers saw it was high time to breathe new life into the CBD.
“Since as far back as 2017, Somerset West’s old town has been earmarked as a potential growth area and, as a result, much has been done to upgrade properties and create a cleaner, safer environment,” explains Bertus De Waal, managing director of Dewvest.
With the Somerset West Village Garden off Drama Street as a wonderful asset to leverage and, with support from Somerset West City Improvement District (SWCID), Dewvest, the Rola Group, and other property owners set about investing in a large-scale effort to upgrade buildings in the immediate vicinity like Alexandra Place, The Forum, The Avenues, Lion’s Square, Trading Post and various Nadmic buildings.
Creating a place with heart
Ultimately, the vision is to transform and renew central Somerset West into a connected place where people want to live, work, visit and shop.
Some of the most notable developments include the revamp of the Forum building, and 42 New Road, which attracted sought-after tenants, such as Bootlegger Coffee Company, William’s Bike Shop, Wild Eatery, Holy Dough, WYN, Poke Co, Sushi Box, Tyson Properties and soon Kristen’s Kick-Ass ice cream. Alexandra Place building has also been revamped with Bäckerei German artisan bakery, Mood Collectives interior design studio, Indish Restaurant and Trek as major tenants.
Giving a voice to these developments
On the back of these exciting developments, Somerset West Village Collective has been established as a joint entity to bring feet back to town by raising awareness about the good work being done in Somerset West’s CBD through events and activations, as well as vibrant storytelling.
We are excited to share this unfolding journey and would like to invite you to join us!
