City says stadium game plan a winner

21 May 2015 - 02:09 By Aphiwe Deklerk

The City of Cape Town is setting up a company to manage its stadium in Green Point, which continues to be a drain on the public purse. Built at a cost of R4.4-billion ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the stadium has not been able to attract enough events to make a profit and sustain itself. It has been running at a loss of about R36-million a year.The plan to set up a management company is contained in a report to be discussed by the mayoral committee tomorrow. The report was drafted after the municipality sought public opinion about its plans to turn around the financial situation of the stadium. The municipality wants to create a business hub around the stadium precinct to bring in more revenue through rent.Mayor Patricia de Lille said last night that establishing a company was the popular choice during the public hearings.''We are now taking the report to the council [at the end of the month]."The municipality published a draft report last year in which it proposed luring tenants such as sports bars, nightclubs and restaurants to Cape Town Stadium to bring in rental income and lessen the load on ratepayers.There is an estimated 20000m 2 of lettable business office, retailing and mixed-use space at the stadium.Although the stadium has hosted some big events this year, including two international rock concerts and the ANC birthday bash in January, it is still not profitable.Cape Town will host the South African leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series.The council report says the city will either purchase a "shelf company" or establish one in its own name. The entity would be majority owned by the city. Anchor tenants would have the option of owning part of the company...

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