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Popular among players, the Africa Padel courts in Claremont also drew quite a few spectators on Friday 19 May.
The occasion: Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis trying his hand at the racket sport which has taken the country by storm.
Hill-Lewis, who admitted that he had played the game a couple of times before, although “very badly”, was there as the guest of the Claremont Beneficiary Trust (CBT) and Africa Padel.
The section of land, which is currently being leased by Africa Padel, forms part of the bigger property located on Bowwood Road – better known as the old Claremont Bowling Club. The trust represents 64 families residing all over the Cape, including Lansdowne, Grassy Park and Retreat,
The property, which was at the centre of a land-claims resolution process that began in 1998, stood vacant for many years with the old clubhouse falling apart and vagrants moving in. The situation persisted even after the land claims commission successfully transferred the land to the trust in June 2017, making it responsible for the maintenance and future of the site.
Last year, the trust signed two short-term leases with Africa Padel and U-turn: Communitree, with the first having taken occupation in September 2022 (“Good match hits old Claremont Bowling Grounds out of the rough”, People’s Post, 15 November 2022).
“My friend Yusuf Mowlana invited me and I didn’t know that he was involved, but when he told me about the project and the history of it, it was just quite an inspiring story so I thought I would like to come and see it,” says Hill-Lewis.
When People’s Post spoke to Mowlana, treasurer of the trust, last year, he shared the development had been put out to tender in 2019. He said the proposals had been narrowed down to one with final negotiations underway.
Asking for an update on Friday, Mowlana said that a draft heads of agreement was in place.
“We are currently negotiating what the terms of the heads of agreement will be. The heads of agreement is something that precedes the actual agreement. We are setting up terms on which we will enter into a development arrangement with the potential developer,” he said.
He added that they are proceeding with great diligence and care.
“We would rather do no deal than a bad deal for our beneficiaries. There are some unfortunate examples, for example, the Tramways development, which was also a land-claims development. Whoever managed the development had bonded the property with the bank and the bank took the property as security to the detriment of the beneficiaries who actually got very little out of that deal.”
“Optimistically speaking,” Mowlana said they hoped to see the development completed within five years.
“It depends on the property market and whether we will be able to sell enough in the early phases to make sure that we can build the final phase which will belong to the beneficiaries,” he said.
Emphasising that it was purely theoretical at this stage, he said that the potential developer envisaged at least three phases.
“We are looking to maximise the value for the beneficiaries. It could be a multi-use property or it could be residential. Maximising the land value doesn’t always mean it will be completely residential, there could be some commercial aspects because often, if you have mixed-use development, one is able to obtain more bulk on the property. That means you can build a greater number of square metres on the property,” Mowlana explained.
Friday’s event also marked the opening of three more courts at the site in addition to the four that were built initially.
Mowlana said they consented to Africa Padel’s request to add the extra courts because it wouldn’t impede their development in the future and it allowed the trust to earn extra income.
“It enables us to cover our rates. We are in arrears and we have a payment plan with the City of Cape Town. They have been very generous with us in terms of allowing us to pay some of the arrears on a deferred basis because during Covid we fell behind with the payments,” he said.
Darryn Kuter, operational manager, Africa Padel, says they soon hope to add another two courts.
“It has been going very well. It has the highest occupancy in the whole country. We think it has one of the best locations with the mountain views.”
