The classic Monarch Hotel on Oxford Road in Rosebank was sold on 5 February for R20-million net bid price, excluding commission.
WH Auctioneers Properties sold the five-star, 12-room boutique property at a public auction under the instruction of a business rescue practitioner. According to the executive director at WH Auctioneers Properties, Joshua Pelkowitz, the building was being sold as a ‘building’ and not as an operational entity. Furniture and other items inside the building were auctioned prior to the building bidding itself with art pieces to be auctioned later on by Strauss & Co.
“You will have to comply with the relevant council of heritage. They are all happy to work together with the new buyer to try and work out a way of getting through any inherent heritage issues that the building may or may not have,” said Pelkowitz.
Kathy Munroe from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation said the building is a blue plaque heritage property as it was the Rosebank Telephone Exchange.
In the Heritage Register, the property is described as follows, “In 1924 Rosebank was identified as a test site for a new telephone exchange that was established here. The small building was substantially enlarged in the 1930s when the exchange was extended to cover the north and western areas of the City. Later it housed the Saxonwold Post Office. The building was unoccupied between 1995 and 2005 and was then converted into a boutique hotel, retaining the original facade, which is reminiscent of the 18th Century Cape Townhouse architecture (blue plaque).”
The two-storey boutique hotel is situated directly opposite the Rosebank Gautrain Station. “This is a prominent locality and the property enjoys direct exposure onto Oxford Road. Almost all properties in the immediate vicinity have recently been either redeveloped or completely refurbished,” said Pelkowitz.
He added, “Due to the heritage status, the front portion of the building and façade must be retained, however, the rear portion of the property can be demolished and redeveloped.”
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