In a bid to stave off a potential “financial crisis”, popular Hout Bay tourist attraction World of Birds is selling a prime piece of land off Valley Road.
Manager Hendrik Louw said with the economic decline, World of Birds was in dire need of funding.
“World of Birds performs an important community service as a haven for sick and injured birds and small animals.
“The organisation never turns anyone away and has in its over 40 years, assisted in excess of 40 000 animals,” he said.
It is the only organisation of its kind in the Cape and is highly dependent on donations and bequests, but is now facing a financial crisis.
“Paying staff is one of the main things obviously, but just yesterday we received a water bill for R62 000. Our rates bill is about R80 000 a month,” Mr Louw said.
“Then there is our food bill, which comes to about R100 000 a month. I don’t think people always realise the costs involved in giving the right diets to the different animals.”
Seeff Hout Bay is handling the marketing of the 4 000m2 plot, and managing director James Lewis said after 40 years, the global attraction with thousands of visitors annually was now faced with severe financial constraints as sponsorships have dwindled.
“This sale is vital to keep the doors open”, he said.
Mr Lewis said that vacant land was rare in the area and this was an excellent investment opportunity and ideal for someone to build their dream home in a high-demand area.
Ashley Larter, an agent with Seeff Hout Bay, said that according to Propstats data, vacant land in Hout Bay had sold for between R1.7million and R3 million and the plot was expected to fetch around R2.5 million.
World of Birds is also running a crowd-funding campaign on backabuddy (https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/world-of-birds-wildlife-sanctuary-campaign)