Buildings brought back into use
A tired, under-used building is refurbished into furnished, serviced student accommodation with working plumbing, electrics, fire equipment and security.
Beyond the lease
Urban regeneration
The StayHope building in the Mbombela CBD is used, maintained and lived in, rather than standing empty.
The idea
Student housing as inner city repair
Inner cities decline in a predictable order. Businesses leave, buildings empty out, maintenance stops, and the streets around them get quieter and less safe. Mbombela's CBD has not been immune to it.
Student accommodation reverses that order. A building full of students is a building with lights on at night, people on the pavement in the morning, rent being collected, repairs being done and money being spent at the shops on the corner. It is one of the few uses that can take an ageing inner city building and make it viable again.
That is why StayHope sets up where it does. We are not on the edge of town, because the point is to be in it.
What regeneration looks like in practice
Streets that are occupied
Occupied buildings and controlled entrances mean more eyes on the street, at more hours of the day, which makes the whole block safer.
Local spend, local jobs
Cleaning, security, maintenance and refurbishment work is sourced locally, and several hundred students shop, eat and travel in the CBD every day.
Value that holds
A maintained, tenanted building holds its value and pays its rates. That is what allows the next building on the street to be worth fixing.
And for our residents
Living in town is the point
Being in the CBD is not a compromise our students accept. It is the reason they choose us. Campus routes, taxis, banks, pharmacies and part-time work are all within walking distance.