La Rosabel

Before Photos

About the Project

Because of rapid urbanisation and a flight to the suburbs by wealthier residents and businesses in the1980’s and 1990s, the Johannesburg inner city went into rapid decline. The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg led an intense consultative process with stakeholders resulting in the adoption of the Inner City Regeneration Charter which, since its inception, has contributed to an improvement of decaying “bad” buildings and social conditions. JOSHCO identified several buildings for redevelopment and has developed a number of these projects as communal housing which is an efficient form of accommodation where the costs of development are minimised, not by reducing the quality of the building upgrade, but by providing rental rooms with shared bathrooms, laundries and kitchens.

La Rosabel, once a derelict, overcrowded building in a deplorable state that had been invaded by illegal squatters and used for criminal activities, has been restored and refurbished into 50 affordable communal rental rooms which offer a safe living environment and all needed amenities. Rentals range from R750 to R900 per month.