Cape Town's Salt River Market to Become 970-Unit Affordable Housing Precinct

The historic Salt River Market site in Salt River, Cape Town, is being redeveloped into a high-density, mixed-use and mixed-income residential precinct comprising 970 affordable rental apartments, under a partnership between Western Cape social and affordable housing provider Communicare and the City of Cape Town.

Communicare is the project developer, while the city has contributed the municipal land required for the development at a 90% discount. The development will include seven storeys of 300 regulated social housing apartments and nine storeys of 670 affordable apartments, with one- and two-bedroom units proposed.

The ground floor will accommodate retail space, a public piazza, a daycare facility and a sports field, with permanent retail space provided for the four longstanding fresh-produce traders operating at the market. As part of the development, the historic Salt River Hall will be restored and preserved.

Communicare plans to contribute R40 million of its own funding and expects to receive a one-off subsidy of about R127 million from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority for the construction of the 300 social housing apartments.

Construction is planned to start in October 2026, with completion targeted for August 2028. The City of Cape Town officially handed over the Salt River Market site to Communicare on June 8, 2026, following a multiyear social facilitation process to relocate informal households occupying the property and resolve arrangements for the commercial traders. Geotechnical investigations are expected to be undertaken before the building plan process is completed.

The project is intended to increase the supply of affordable housing close to public transport, employment and economic opportunities while supporting greater spatial and socioeconomic integration in central Cape Town.