Joburg’s landmark Ponte Tower up for sale

Ponte Tower – Johannesburg’s landmark cylindrical residential skyscraper near Hillbrow, owned by Kempston Properties – is up for sale by private tender.

Broll Auctions and Sales CEO Norman Raad confirmed this on Tuesday during a tour of the property with Dlala Nje Tours.

Kempston Properties acquired the Ponte Tower, which is also sometimes referred to as ‘Ponte City’, in the mid-1990s.

When asked about Kempston’s decision to sell Ponte Tower, Raad explained that 95% of the private group’s property portfolio comprised industrial, commercial, and farming properties, making Ponte one of its few remaining residential assets. With the group based on the coast and Ponte located in Johannesburg, he said the sale was a logical decision.

Raad noted that interest in the building was strong, with over 50 inquiries received on the first day.

“We’ve never seen so much interest in a building.”

The CEO also added that the building has a maximum capacity of 2 500 and is 75% occupied.

Ponte Tower, built in 1975 and designed by architects Mannie Feldman, Manfred Hermer, and Rodney Grosskopff, stands at 173 metres tall, with 54 floors. It is one of the tallest residential skyscrapers in Africa.

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The building also has a unique open centre known as “the core”, which rises above uneven bedrock. It is a popular site for tourists, corporate bookings, and heritage tours through Dlala Nje.

Dlala Nje founder, journalist and social impact entrepreneur Nickolaus Bauer, speaking to Jeremy Maggs on Moneyweb’s FixSA podcast in August 2024, noted that when Ponte opened its doors in the mid-seventies, it was considered the “crème de la crème” of inner-city living.

However, by the 1990s, it had become a “horror story”, the first vertical slum in Africa without water or electricity. Bauer also highlighted that in the early 2000s, the Department of Correctional Services nearly repurposed the building as a prison.

“And then most recently, in the past 10 to 15 years, it has become a bit of an oasis for the middle class of the inner city,” Bauer commented on the podcast.

“South Africa’s definition of middle class, I think, really cuts to the heart of our problems with inequality and the different worlds we all inhabit.

When I say ‘middle class’, that’s very much inner-city middle class, which means essentially you need a payslip and about R10 000 gross in your bank account every single month to be able to rent a flat out there,” he said at the time.

ALSO READ: Ponte challenge: Stairway to heaven endurance race to 54th floor

The ideal buyer

On the tour, Raad said the ideal buyer for the building would be “a private investor that works with the City of Joburg[COJ].”

“The city can’t do it on their own, and they [the new owner] needs to come and continue the work the current owners have done.”

COJ is also reportedly interested in the sale of Ponte – not to purchase it, but to be involved in the process. “The city is very interested in knowing what’s going on,” said Raad.

The private tender closes on 10 April 2025.

This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.