Downtown Joburg enthusiasts are buzzing about the Sheds @1Fox.
This is one of those quintessentially Jozi projects that make me love living in this city. In short: There is a complex of cavernous, historic warehouses where Fox Street dead-ends on the western edge of the city. These warehouses were formerly part of Anglo American and are now owned by the Johannesburg Land Company.
Until recently, the buildings were slated to be torn down to make way for an office building. But a group of Jozi-lovers, including Gerald Garner of JoburgPlaces and Jan and Jay Roode of Happy.Me, are now working with the Johannesburg Land Company to develop the warehouses into an innovative “food, wine and lifestyle emporium”. The Sheds @1Fox are scheduled to open during the Joburg City Festival in October 2014.
The buildings are currently empty except for some piles of rubbish, crude graffiti, and lots (and lots) of pigeon poop. Construction will start any day now.
This week I got a behind-the-scenes look at what will soon become the Sheds @1Fox. I took about 1,000 pictures, knowing this was my last chance to photograph the place before everything changes. I suspect that the before-and-after comparison will be dramatic. In the meantime, here is the “before”:
The first area to be developed. This huge room will house “pop-up” market stands between October and December 2014. The pop-up stands will eventually transform into more permanent retail spaces.
There are some really cool old signs scattered around. At some point along the line there was a real estate company here.
High explosive loading area?
An oddly beautiful pile of half-burned rubbish.
I also find the profane graffiti to be oddly beautiful.
And the toilet too. Especially the toilet.
I love this toilet so much that I had to capture it with my fish-eye lens. It was my last chance. I doubt the toilet will survive the refurbishment.
Wall of fame. Or shame.
These sheds look as if someone painted graffiti on them and then someone else tried unsuccessfully to wash it off.
Last look at the empty sheds. The next time you see this room it will be full of awesome stuff.
I could say much more about the Sheds @1Fox but I think I’ll save the rest for when it opens. In the meantime, you can direct questions to gerald@joburgplaces.com.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.