That article is a year old. As far as I'm aware the refurb/redevelopment never happened

Not its not, the article was dated October 18, 2011

^and on the Joburg web page, stating that renovations are underway and occupations will take place next July.

Actually guys, bad news..

The banks did not provide the funding need to revitilize Ponte City, the building was handed back to the Kempston Group.

Not its not, the article was dated October 18, 2011

Err, where does it say that?

From the article:

"And the upper-middle class is rushing in. About 300 people attended the first showday, on Sunday, 28 October, and put their money on the table. "It was quite manic on Sunday," says Setshwano Rametse, the director of Space Marketing and Investments, the company marketing the sale. "We got just over 80 percent sell on the day.""

Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1847&Itemid=253#ixzz1bDAYzZ7G

Is it just me or has the 28th of October not yet happened this year.

^^ under the heading...

There's nothing under the heading in my Safari browser......

The article is obviously old oct 28 did not pass yet. The date at the top is the current date. lol

The article is obviously old oct 28 did not pass yet. The date at the top is the current date. lol

I didn't have the heart to point that out :lol:

I didn't have the heart to point that out :lol:

Look at post #253

The article is obviously old oct 28 did not pass yet. The date at the top is the current date. lol

Are you suggesting that an article cannot be written on the current date?! The date of 28 Oct in the body could easily have been a typo. Anyway, perhaps Briker can clarify why he posted the article if it is so out of date.

I stand to be correct, but I think the article Briker posted details the older plan. The article I posted above is the current plan:


A far more realistic plan...

Johannesburg’s landmark gets a facelift
By SA Commercial Prop News (http://www.sacommercialpropnews.co.za/business-specialties/investment/3587-johannesburg%E2%80%99s-landmark-gets-a-facelift.html)

Film producer David Selvan and developer Nour Ayyoub’s grand plans to buy Hillbrow’s Ponte City for R100m and turn it into a chic residential address — with penthouse price tags at R5m, no less — have come to naught .

But despite the collapse of the deal, first announced three years ago, East London-based Tony Cotterell still hopes to restore some of Ponte’s former glory.

Cotterell’s truck rental group, Kempston, has owned Africa’s tallest residential building for more than 15 years. The 54-storey Jo’burg landmark is now undergoing a multi million-rand revamp, the cost believed to far exceed the estimated R17m Cotterell paid for Ponte in the early 1990s.

The facelift includes extensive upgrades to the building’ s 475 flats, the installation of eight new high-speed lifts, a biometric access control system and a viewing deck at the top . Fast food chain Bimbo’s will open an outlet on the eighth floor before year-end, with an additional 2500m² of new retail space set to be ready for occupation by mid-2012.

But Kempston doesn’t share Selvan ’s and Ayyob’s ambitious view that Ponte could regain its status as a swanky address . “Though Hillbrow’s crime-and-grime situation is starting to turn around, it will probably take 10 years before we see higher-income residents return to the area,’’ says Kempston group accountant Jason Kruger.

Kempston’s aim is to lure middle-income residents back to Ponte — police , nurses, teachers and middle management employed by banks in the CBD. Though Ponte was overrun by drug and slum lords in the late 1990s, illegal occupants were evicted a few years ago and have been slowly but surely replaced by lower-middle income (paying) tenants.

Around 60% of the units are now let. Rentals vary from R2100/month for bachelor units to R3400 for three-bedroom flats, while the subdivided penthouses are fetching R6000/month.

Kruger dismisses talk that Ponte is still on the market. “The building has never officially been for sale, but we look at all offers if and when we get them.”

Kruger is not saying what Ponte’s book value is. But cylindrical building exceeds R500m , based on Rode & Associates’ minimum building cost estimate of R9000/m² for high-rise apartment blocks, the replacement cost of the 56000m² tower exceeds R500m.

How many of these type of articles have we seen in the past decade? Plenty. And with every supposed "launch-day" they have there are like 100's of people with hands full of money just fighting to get their hands on an apartment... Only to hear a couple of weeks later it didn't work out. (Long yawn...) This is getting very old and boring.

Don't see this building EVER coming back to life the way people imagine. Sorry.

How many of these type of articles have we seen in the past decade? Plenty. And with every supposed "launch-day" they have there are like 100's of people with hands full of money just fighting to get their hands on an apartment... Only to hear a couple of weeks later it didn't work out. (Long yawn...) This is getting very old and boring.

Don't see this building EVER coming back to life the way people imagine. Sorry.

You think R2100 for a bachelor is unreasonable?

I heard that this whole Ponte City Redevelopment Project was a scam and the developers ran off with the investors money.

419 scam? :D

@musiccity - Your sig should read “Be the change you want to see in the world.”