December 12, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
ADAM LEVY is passionate about bringing back the vibe into Braamfontein. Already the property entrepreneur has bought a number of buildings for development, including the abandoned Alexander Theatre in Stiemens Street.
Sitting in one of his acquisitions, 6 De Beer Street, a lime 90-year-old building Levy bought and refurbished into a bakery, he says Braamfontein is a cultural environment which, at the moment, is rather sterile.
There have been very few building renovations over the past years in the city centre and he has taken it upon himself to bring people back. "Currently, our inner city is a bit mundane. But typically most of the great cultural events happen in the city. There are restaurants, theatres, you name it."
Turning to the Alexander Theatre, Levy says this is one of his projects meant to convince people to live in Braamfontein. He intends to start refurbishments at the beginning of 2007 and, hopefully, the theatre will open its doors in May that year.
Adam Levy in front of The City Bakery he owns
It has been empty for the past nine years and, once reopened, it will be the third theatre in Braamfontein, creating "a theatrical precinct", Levy says. The other two are the Civic Theatre and the Wits Theatre, all a stone's throw from Stiemens Street.
The 550-seat Alexander Theatre will turn Braamfontein into a place where people can come during the day and stay until the night, thereby creating an atmosphere where people can live and play in, he adds.
"We live in an age where everything is readily available – television, video, radio – and this has created a culture where people don't venture out of doors. Crime and grime has also played a part in driving people from the city centre and this is quite upsetting."
Levy, who has a legal background, has a great love for brilliant architecture. "There were times when architecture was important. Now people aspire to create developments purely to make money out of."
He gets his inspiration for creating grand designs from the trends in international architecture. "You take that and fuse it with your own energy and you come up with what I am doing with the building at 155 Smit Street," he says.
The nine-storey 155 Smit Street is Levy's pride and joy. He sold each of the floors to a separate owner and has taken the top two-and-a half floors for himself. "I wanted to create one of the most unusual buildings in Johannesburg and I found incredible people with incredible style to occupy the other seven floors …the building doesn't necessarily make economic sense as such but it makes social and architectural sense."
Nearby on De Beer Street, a lime building, The City Bakery, stands out magnificently. Levy says when he bought the building some time ago; an old tenant had 150 people living in it. He loved its original design and he stuck to the building's original plan during the renovations.
"This building is just part of my idea for people to walk the streets of Braamfontein. Go down onto the streets from your apartment and have tea at a sidewalk café across the street. This is also an idea to convince people to drive out from their Sandton, Bryanston and other northern suburb homes to Braamfontein. This is a way to make the city work."
A corner building on Juta and Bertha streets is another of Levy's babies. He plans to partially convert the seven-storey building into new apartments. "I want to develop buildings [so] that when people talk about Braamfontein, they talk about buildings that are world class. Most of the architectural landscape in Joburg tells a story and I want my buildings to tell their own stories as well."
Levy believes buildings should be social spaces - a great culture cannot be created by people building high walls around their homes and "running away from each other".
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