“There is the need for a city ‘melting pot’ where all kinds of people can interact and meet other amazing people – the sort of thing you get in any other functioning city in the world. It’s about engaging with the city streets – that’s why we need to tear down the walls and electric fences, and walk the streets – really get to know our city.”

PROPERTY DETAILS

You’ll notice that all my properties have doors that open onto pavements – there are never any burglar bars on any of my buildings – because it’s about restoring engagement in the city, saying, ‘Hi, we’re open… I can see you and you can see me’, and we can stop and have a chat, because we’re part of a community and we want you to be involved.

70 Juta has become Braamfontein’s first mini high street, and its colourful facade has made it the most recognizable landmark at the intersection of Juta and de Beer Streets.

Previously an army surplus store selling weaponry, the redeveloped retail space with its light-filled inner courtyard, opened its doors in November 2010, showcasing a diverse range of young entrepreneurial go-getters who share Play’s desire to catalyze street-level engagement, and attract like-minded followers into the area. The building continues to evolve and has remained true to its original roots of rotational pop-up stores and exhibition areas for up and coming new creative talent.

“I recall a conversation in 2015 with Adidas about doing a store in a container. We didn’t have any space available but while I was on the phone looking out the window, I suggested building it on top of 70 Juta Street. It wasn’t long after that that we had three cantilevered containers atop an ingeniously engineered platform.”

The building has recently gone through a new iteration with the addition of the Fred Clarke mural and the larger Kalashnikov gallery.