Signage was removed from the Constantia Care Centre in February as a new five-storey block of flats is planned for the site. Picture: Janice Matthews
A five-storey block of flats is set to replace an old-age home in Constantia, but residents fear it will worsen traffic congestion, strain sanitation and encroach on privacy.
Units in the proposed Constantia Edge development in Deurdrif were due to start selling off-plan on Tuesday.
The Constantia Care Centre, at 81 Doordrift Road, will be demolished to make way for the block, which, according to a website promoting the Tintswalo Property Group development, will be ready next year with 44 two- and three-bedroom units available from just under R3 million, each with one-to-two bathrooms and one-to-two parking spaces.
The complex will also have a communal clubhouse, braai areas and a pool.
The Constantia Care Centre, run by ViaViva Constantia, a private company, provided assisted and frail-care living, but in February, residents were served notices to vacate by the end of March and staff received retrenchment letters.
The building is now standing vacant, and ViaViva Constantia did not respond to requests by phone, SMS and email for comment.
ViaViva Constantia leased the property from the Tintswalo Property Group, which has owned it since March 2022, but although it took occupation in November 2022, it failed to pay rent despite collecting rental from its residents, according to Tintswalo CEO Warwick Goosen.
“ViaViva Constantia is presently indebted to Classic Collection in an amount exceeding R3 800 000, and the lease agreement was cancelled prior to Classic Collection instituting liquidation proceedings against ViaViva Constantia,” Mr Goosen said.
Adverts for the new residential development appeared online as early as Tuesday March 26, four days before the date to vacate was reached.
In an online public meeting of 105 people on Thursday March 28, residents voiced objections to the development, saying a five-storey block would loom over surrounding properties and invade neighbours’ privacy. They said it would only add to existing problems with speeding and traffic congestion along Doordrift Road and increase pressure on water pipes and sewers.
Speaking at the meeting, mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews said the City had received a building plan application for the development, and there was nothing to stop it from going ahead as long as its building plan complied with zoning and building requirements and withstood scrutiny from City officials, including the traffic department and engineering services.
According to Mr Andrews, the property’s general residential zoning permits flats to a height of 15 metres.
Should the Constantia Edge developers seek to depart from the zoning permissions, public consultation would be needed before the municipal planning tribunal made a decision, albeit one subject to an appeal process, he said.