Bonne Nouvelle Redevelopment

Lydon added this project

Although most of the cliff side sea-fronting blocks below Victoria Road in Bantry Bay have been completely renovated or replaced in the last three decades – giving way to some of the Atlantic Seaboard’s most impressive new developments – the 52-year-old Bonne Nouvelle at 44 Victoria Road has until recently remained in much the same condition and configuration as it was when it was built in the mid-1960s.

The block has six levels – two above Victoria Road. It has a 30m frontage to the sea and on either side there are the 10m spaces, which the Cape Town City Council originally insisted have to be left open on all buildings along this coastline.

Bonne Nouvelle is a share block scheme with six shareholders, each owning a complete floor of about 200m2. And although resales took place occasionally, for years the owners had no great desire to alter or improve the complex. The building’s position, its superb views and its general air of calm and graciousness endeared it to all its occupants.

One owner, Sam O’Leary, a financier with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, who had bought a unit in Bonne Nouvelle in 1999, however felt that his apartment needed a fourth bedroom. After discussing the matter with Bonne Nouvelle’s chairman in 2006, it was agreed that he should go ahead and investigate the possibilities of doing this.

O’Leary drove around Bantry Bay and other Atlantic Seaboard suburbs and noted the names of architects whose firms appeared on nearby construction site boards, assuming that local experience and knowledge would be useful.

The first architect that O’Leary approached explained that it was “actually not his area”. The second said that City Council restrictions very definitely precluded any possibility of making changes and there was no point in discussing it. The third architect’s receptionist asked to know the value of the proposed scheme, explaining that the firm had certain cut-off limits. O’Leary replied that as the scheme was not yet conceived this was impossible to state – and broke off negotiations forthwith.

The fourth architect contacted was Simeon “Simmy” Peerutin, a senior partner of Peerutin Architects. Peerutin said that he would immediately work with the owners and the City Council to come up with a design that would meet the needs of all parties – come hell or high water.

“This was the type of attitude that the owners were looking for, so he was appointed,” says O’Leary.

The City Council’s policy is that the scenic Marine Drive of which Victoria Road forms a part should offer as many views of the sea as possible. Today no new building is allowed to block these views. However, the two floors of Bonne Nouvelle that do reach up above the road had been built before the legislation was promulgated and are therefore exempt from this ruling. They cannot be extended, but any changes made within them are permissible.

What began as the simple suggestion from O’Leary to add one room to his apartment ended as a major renovation and upgrading of the entire complex, from which every owner is now benefitting. Even if they had not participated, however, as share block members they had to give their permission for all the changes. This involved O’Leary, Peerutin and the chairman in ongoing negotiations, which, along with the approaches to the City Council, took three and a half years to finalise. By August 2010 all the changes were agreed on and the contractor could be given the go-ahead.

An early hurdle to be overcome was that if certain of the units, including O’Leary’s, were to be extended, the owners would have to buy from the share block company the land – usually a section of the cliff face into which they would now reach. Assessing the value of the land that would become available was not easy. With the help of some of the estate agencies eventually the prices for four different categories of land were calculated, largely dependent on how much sea view each section could offer. On average, says O’Leary, the price paid for the land was R18 000/m2, the seafront areas going for as much as R25 000/m2.

The owners, spurred on by Peerutin Architects’ advice to “think big” and to make the most of the magnificent site, began to realise the potential inherent in upgrading and became very ambitious. Extending his unit to the east, west and southwards, O’Leary, for example, was able almost to double the size of his apartment to close on 400m2. Another owner sold his apartment to the owner above him, thereby facilitating the consolidation of a duplex apartment. He himself set about converting the 7m high void below the former ground floor into a 350m2 two level apartment with every possible feature and fixture. This apartment will front directly onto the rocks.

The money paid into the share block for land (about R10 million) was then put into the overall building costs, with additional inputs from the owners according to their specifications. Every unit in the scheme is to an extent being upgraded and enlarged, some far more extensively than others.

The owners of the two units above Victoria Road in the end benefitted greatly and at no cost to themselves, although at first there appeared to be no way in which this was possible. This was because Peerutin Architects were able to demonstrate to the City that the lift shaft on the western side already protruded into the open space and if this was demolished and a new lift shaft built closer to the front of the building the view line from the road would be no further blocked if an additional bedroom was built onto each of the street level apartments. This was allowed by the City and adds much to the value of these units, says O’Leary.

After the lengthy negotiations between owners and the share block company had been wrapped up, it appeared that the whole scheme might founder because an initial cost estimate seemed to make the project completely unviable. However, the quantity surveyor, D’Arcy Hedding, was able to reduce the proposed costs by about 40 percent and on this basis the owners were able to put the scheme out to tender. The contract was awarded to Gordon Verhoef & Krause/Siya Zama, which had carried out concrete spalling repairs on the site two years earlier.

Although the enlarging and upgrading of the original six apartments is fairly straightforward, the main reason the project is taking 20 months to complete is the ‘mining’ required to create the space behind and under the apartments. An unusual and innovative solution designed by the consulting engineers, Hulme and Associates in association with geotechnical engineer, Mike van Wierengen, involved propping up the building with huge temporary concrete collar beams and extending the original columns. This is a very expensive and time-consuming process which would not have been financially viable if property prices hadn’t risen so much over the past 15 years.

Peerutin now estimates that when the upgraded block is finally handed over in mid-2012 the individual units will be worth more than R65 000/m2. This means that the total scheme, with its garages and communal areas, will be worth around R160 million, which is almost three times as much as its previous value of R60 million.

Under the new arrangement, three of the owners continue to own their units as part of the share block scheme and three others own them under sectional title. However subsequent buyers can convert to sectional title if they wish.

“The completed project will have some of the most sophisticated and attractive finishes yet seen on the Atlantic Seaboard and will make far greater use of wraparound glazing and balconies to enhance the indoor-outdoor flow. The scheme will have its own pool and very sophisticated security measures, as well as other facilities,” says Peerutin.

“Bonne Nouvelle is likely to compare favourably with almost any other complex on the Atlantic Seaboard, including those in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront precinct and is already being described by some as the “jewel in the crown” on the sophisticated, expensive Bantry Bay coastline.”

Call Simeon Peerutin on 021 464 4360 or email simmy@peerutin.co.za.

4 months ago