KZN Invest 9

The commercial and retail property sector is reeling from Covid-19. It demands a quick pivot. KZN INVEST spoke to Urban Lime CEO Jonny Friedman, who says it is critical to do things differently to sustain and support tenants and stakeholders

We need to be part of the solution. Now more

than ever, we are focusing on neighbourhood initiatives that respond to how people can interact and live in a post-Covid world.”

Friedman’s tenants range from microbusinesses to large corporates and big franchises and says Urban Lime strives for creative solutions that are sustainable and rejuvenate the city.

“Lockdown has made us do things differently. As well as becoming more tech efficient, improving our tenant communications and being more mindful, some projects which were on the table have been accelerated and rolled out.”

One of their pre-Covid projects was to establish a shelter as a temporary accommodation for vulnerable women and children, working together with the eThekwini Deputy Mayor’s office and FNB. Strollers, a three-storey building, was identified and the project was fast-tracked early in lockdown so it could be operational for residents much sooner than originally envisaged. The partners donated R500 000 each for phase one and encouraged their contacts to help out.

“Strollers has helped changed the narrative around problematic buildings and has provided a place of refuge for more than 200

PROPERTY needs to pivot quickly

women and women with children,” says Friedman.

Lockdown has meant huge hardships for the hospitality industry. Urban Lime has been working with Florida Road Urban Improvement Project and businesses to keep the Florida Road precinct commercially viable. The idea is to develop cafe and retail recovery zones – a “streatery” allowing for more space for physically-distant shopping and dining; moving tables and chairs on to the streets as a spill-out for restaurants; and providing safe communal eating and retail.

The Benjamin in Florida Road is under new management and has become the Benjamin Apart Hotel offering accommodation at reduced rates for business travel and incentivising longer stays.

Urban Lime is looking at a Fitness Exchange which Friedman describes as a boutique offering for smaller groups.

“People are starting to return to their offices. Buildings such as Pioneer Place, is fully let with 200 micro manufacturing businesses. It is important to get workspaces up and running with protocols in place. It is about getting kinks ironed out about compliance and security so people can earn income again. With property assets, we cannot be static, we have to be fluid.”

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