Today I woke up to news that African Sun Limited (ASL), one of the biggest hospitality interests in Zimbabwe is planning a US$25 million expansion of Monomotapa Hotel.((The Source – African Sun to pump in $25 mln into Monomotapa hotel expansion))
Monomotapa Hotel is located in Harare’s CBD occupying a corner section of the well known Harare Gardens.
The biggest news was contained in the main news itself which is that as part of this expansion project ASL is talking to Harare City Council with the intention to “acquire a portion of the Harare Gardens”. The report by The Source further stated that “the council deal is reported to be worth around $2 million”.
The official City’s position to this ASL proposal appears to be still in the making suffice to say the news report indicated that some Councillors are opposed to such a transaction.
This post essentially throws its weight behind the resisting Councillors and I believe for good reason. Two Million American Dollars for 8% of the park is measly compared to what Harare Gardens real estate is potentially worth to the City.
While it is fact that the Monomotapa Hotel expansion is a significant immediate injection to the city’s economy coupled by ongoing commercial and other benefits, Harare gardens is still worth much more to the City than is possibly appreciated at present.
New York Central Park
Asked by The Guardian how much people thought the 42 million visitor a year New York Central Park is “worth if it were to be sold off for construction”((The Guardian – How much would Central Park be worth if it were to be sold off for construction?)) here are some responses people gave;
One would perhaps say “priceless” in the sense that such a situation could never arise and so it would be impossible to arrive at a sensible figure. Hence priceless
Another said
Central Park is 848 acres, which translates to over 39 million square feet. At US$1,000/square foot, Central Park is worth over 39 trillion dollars
Yet another added
Priceless! Central Park should never, and never will be, sold off for construction. New York wouldn’t be New York without Central Park just like London wouldn’t be London without Big Ben, Toronto wouldn’t be Toronto without the CN Tower. If it wasn’t for Central Park, I don’t think NYC would be as great as it is today
While Harare Gardens is not the same as Central Park, the principles governing and informing the value of the two pieces of land as highlighted in the quotations above are really the same. These are priceless properties to any modern city and I will come back to this.
This makes ASL’s reported $2 million Council deal jest. It’s a terribly bad deal at any price because the proper price of the Park would fold ASL at least a hundred some times over and this is no less even for the 8% of the park sought after.
World Class City by 2025
By design Harare Gardens provide a public recreational escape away from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding concrete jungle. This is the main reason for these kinds of parks all cross the world.
Cityscape designers saw the necessity of creating these green islands as places urbanites could retreat to find some air.
ASL’s idea while honest from a business expansionist perspective, it replaces concrete with concrete. Modern cities are trying to replace concrete with green spaces.
If Harare, as it says in its corporate vision, wants to achieve a world class city status by 2025, what the city actually needs going into that future is to create more green spaces and not less.
Harare Gardens is not only iconic to Harare as the capital, it is also a national symbol. The park is currently a largely dormant asset but this will change in future. Daily foot traffic into the park is currently good, not at its best nor properly monitized.
In a functional and sound economy as many are looking forward to at an indeterminate time in the future, there awaits room for the human traffic to increase and greater opportunities to monitize that traffic.
New York’s Central Park generates an estimated $1 billion a year in revenues.
I bet my last dollar that City revenues out of the Park’s commerce will dwarf the current reported $2 million on the table and any spin-offs from the entire $25 million ASL expansion project.
The City will inevitably need the current space covered in concrete that ASL is interested in for its own expansion considering there is nowhere else to go for the park which itself is already surrounded by concrete.
If the City Fathers go ahead and sell off this city asset to a private investor, not only would they have demonstrated a lack of long term vision but they would also have betrayed national pride.