Cape Town: Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis officially handed over the City’s flagship Salt River Market site for the construction of 970 inner-city affordable housing units by developer ‘Communicare’. The Mayor was joined by Member of the Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements – Councillor Carl Pophaim and Chairperson of Communicare NPC – Mark Van Wyk. The development includes 300 social housing rental units and 670 affordable market units.
Reportedly, the Salt River Market is among four inner-city sites where construction is set to begin this year on over 3000 affordable units in total, including over 1500 social housing rental apartments. The other sites are Newmarket Street (Foreshore), Pickwick Street (Salt River) and Fruit & Veg (Zonnebloem, CBD).
In the term of office to date, the City of Cape Town has released land set to yield around 5000 affordable units under the Mayoral Priority Programme to accelerate land release for affordable housing.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that the historic Salt River Market is one of the most exciting inner-city affordable housing projects, and they are pleased to reach the point of handover for the development of 970 affordable units. Construction is now set to commence here, and on three other central Cape Town inner-city sites this year.
These are the visible results of the accelerated land release programme taking shape, by creating thousands of affordable housing opportunities for Cape Town families in the CBD and other well-located parts of the city. This is how the Human Settlements team is making under-used public assets work for Capetonians, with a broader land release pipeline of over 12,000 affordable housing units in various well-located parts of the metro.
The development demonstrates an innovative public private partnership model, with the City of Cape Town contributing land at a 90% discount (around R95 million total subsidy).
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements – Councillor Carl Pophiam stated that the completed Salt River Market development by providing affordable rental options to households earning up to approximately R34,400 per month. It will also deliver rentals ranging from approximately R700 to R10,000 per month across unit types, making it affordable for Cape Town families.
The ceremonial handover of Salt River Market to the developer follows a complex, multi-year social facilitation process to resolve unlawful occupation at the site. This included the relocation of 70 informal households to upgraded accommodation in the Maitland area in May 2026, as well as the previous resolution of commercial traders occupying the site.
Chairperson of Communicare – Mark van Wyk said that the Communicare plans to develop the ground-floor as retail, ‘a piazza’, day care and a sports field to create a vibrant public realm. A total of 300 Social Housing apartments will be added in seven storeys above ground, and 670 affordable housing apartments in nine storeys.
The Salt River Hall will also be restored and preserved for its heritage value. Honouring the origins of the market, the development plans include making provision for the four long-standing fresh produce traders to continue to operate at the Salt River Market.