|
New Projects
Private developers do not provide for those income levels that Yeast City Housing caters for, because there is no profit margin. We therefore develop housing, with the intention of developing housing that is more than just shelter, but rather the provision of living environments that are healthy and supportive, facilitating growth and community building.
We develop housing through the conversion of vacant buildings, optimizing land use on existing sites, the refurbishment of so-called bad buildings, and the construction of new housing on appropriate sites. We will continue to focus on the inner city of Tshwane including Salvokop, Marabastad, Pretoria West, Sunnyside and Arcadia. We are also exploring housing developments in the Greater Tshwane region.
Thembelihle Village Thembelihle is an ‘old’ new project as it has been with us since 1999. The Gauteng Department of Housing requested us to serve as housing association responsible for development and management of this project on land then owned by Gauteng. YCH then developed the design for the project, business plans and funding sources. Gauteng, due to restrictive legislation, could not transfer the land directly to a non-profit agency but had to do it via the local municipality. Once that happened, our problems started because the Tshwane municipality then found various reasons, mostly unknown to us, for why they could not let us do this development. But as Thembelihle means “good hope”, we still cling to the hope that one day soon 481 families will move into their apartments to live dignified lives, close to urban opportunity and services. This village will be a mixed-income, mixed-use development, compromising 481 housing units, 25 store fronts, as well as complementary social and recreational facilities. The site is situated in a part of the city that used to be known as “Goede Hoop” (in Dutch). Thembelihle is the isiZulu phrase for “good hope” and tries to capture the vision of reconstructing the story of this part of the inner city, providing hope to people who previously lacked access to the city. Not only will it provide families with increased access to urban housing and social services, but it will also help drive the regeneration of a part of the city that has been abandoned for far too long.
Leyds Street Development The Leyds Street Congregational Church is one of the partners in the movement of the Tshwane Leadership Foundation and Pretoria Community Ministries. They agreed to the redevelopment of their church hall to include 40 residential units, focusing specifically on young and older women moving from The Potter’s House and Lerato House into independent living. This is an innovative partnership between a local church seeking to utilize its space optimally for healing purposes, YCH as housing developer, and PCM as the social development agency of the churches. We envisage this to be a community of great potential, not only to transform individual lives but also to transform the life of the host church.
Aslan Village A little hidden neighbourhood on the edge of the city next to the busiest taxi rank in town, is where we dream of the Aslan Village. This is a small residential area, just north of Boom Street in the city centre. We were able to purchase two houses on this block, and redeveloped one house into the Rivoningo Care Centre. One of our partner organizations - Missions Exposure and Training - was able to purchase six houses on this block. Between us we now own 40% of the properties on this block, and we dream of consolidating what we have and of sharing what we know and see, to reshape this neighbourhood. Their focus is on mission education and training and our focus is on housing and social development, but we dream together of a process whereby we will redevelop our properties in a way that will integrate our strengths and our objectives, as part of the reweaving of a supportive community. The housing that we envisage will be a mix of communal housing, housing for people with special housing needs, and family units. |