Alternative: Ponte Tower, located within the Berea suburb of Johannesburg, is up for grabs – however just for consumers
who’re involved in city renewal. Photograph: Delwyn Verasamy
Johannesburg’s skyline has a heartbeat and for many years Ponte Tower has been its most placing pulse. This 54-floor cylindrical big, rising 173 metres above town (185m in the event you rely the tip), isn’t only a constructing — it’s a narrative. Inbuilt 1975, Ponte opened its doorways in 1976. Designed by the visionary architect Manfred Hermer alongside Mannie Feldman and Rodney Grosskopff, Ponte was as soon as the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa.
This constructing, owned by Kempston Properties, is now up for grabs by means of non-public tender. Remaining bids are due by 10 April at 5pm. Broll Auctions and Gross sales is managing the transaction. It’s a second that’s bought everybody speaking, and for good motive — Ponte’s journey from glamour to grit and again once more makes it one of the crucial fascinating belongings in South Africa.
Non-public tender is a technique that invitations a selected group of bidders to current their proposals as a substitute of inserting the property on the open market. In distinction to a public public sale, this technique allows Kempston Properties to supervise who participates, probably specializing in explicit buyers or organisations with the potential and foresight to deal with such a definite asset.
Costing about R11 million to assemble, Ponte was the “crème de la crème” of inner-city residing, as Dlala Nje’s Nickolaus Bauer as soon as put it on a podcast. With its distinctive hole core letting mild flood into wedge-shaped flats, it lured Johannesburg’s elite — suppose penthouses, saunas and unbeatable views stretching from Hillbrow to Sandton.
It’s fascinating why the constructing is in a round form. The positioning has an uncommon format, with an outcrop of stable rock taking over a good portion of the land round which the constructing needed to be designed. It turned clear that the constructing must be cylindrical to make use of the utmost quantity of the location.
Additionally to notice is that constructing laws on the time of development required a rest room and kitchen window. The hole cylindrical form of the constructing would permit home windows to open into the inner core of the constructing. On this means, the constructing laws had been complied with and the façade was uncluttered — all within the title of sustaining the panoramic view of town by means of the outside home windows of the constructing.
By the Nineteen Nineties, the dream had soured. The constructing turned a vertical slum stricken by crime, gangs and neglect. Its inside core was piled excessive with garbage, and no water or electrical energy was equipped to it.
I watched a snippet about Ponte in a video on YouTube a month in the past. When the constructing modified possession and was redeveloped in 2007, the trash pile was eliminated. The constructing was additionally infamous for suicides and other people falling out of the home windows. All the inner home windows have been welded shut since 2014.
There was even discuss of turning it into a jail. Gauteng’s proposal by no means got here to fruition, however it solidified Ponte’s standing as a illustration of city decline at the moment.
One other enjoyable reality is that there was a time when builders wished to create an indoor ski slope within the 3000m2 retail area on the bottom flooring.
But Ponte endured, and within the early 2000s, Kempston Properties stepped in, respiratory new life into its 486 flats. At the moment, Ponte is dwelling to greater than 2 500 residents — proof of its outstanding turnaround. Occupancy now sits properly above 80% and is steadily climbing. There’s a six-month ready checklist for the smaller flats.
Lesley Saunders, who handles advertising and marketing, communications and public relations for Broll Auctions and Gross sales, stated advertising and marketing this property has been all about shifting public notion whereas additionally focusing on events who’ve city renewal as a core precept and can proceed to enhance not solely Ponte however the surrounding space as properly.
I reviewed the latest hire roll equipped by Broll. Bachelor items begin at R2 350 a month whereas one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom condominium rental charges vary from R3 600 to R7 000 a month. Parking bay hire is R250.
Certainly one of my followers on my X web page (@askashbroker) lived in one of many penthouses in the course of the early Nineteen Nineties. He stated the rental was R800 a month for a completely furnished penthouse with 4 bedrooms, two lounges, a braai space, a sauna and a jacuzzi.
Many say the constructing continues to be derelict. However, opposite to this perception, one in every of my X followers shared some current images of the communal areas and the flats’ interiors that he took in December 2024. I used to be pleasantly stunned to see the neat finishes of the flats and the cleaned-up widespread areas.
It’s now not a relic of the previous however a thriving rental-only property, providing all the pieces from studios to four-bedroom penthouses. And let’s not overlook its crown jewel — the neon signal atop the tower, South Africa’s largest out of doors promoting area and possibly one of many largest within the Southern Hemisphere, beaming manufacturers like Vodacom throughout town.
At current, the owner receives R342 000 nett from rental of this promoting area.
Ponte is an emblem of Joburg’s resilience as a lot as it’s a piece of actual property. It has starred in lots of motion pictures: District 9, Resident Evil — The Remaining Chapter, Dredd and Behind Enemy Strains — Seal Crew 8. The Canadian rapper Drake additionally shot one in every of his music movies right here — Please Forgive Me — in 2014.
Different tales I’ve heard through the years embody the time a spectator at Ellis Park in 1989 was shot. The police traced the gunman to an condominium in Ponte.
So why is Kempston Properties promoting now? It is sensible whenever you have a look at its portfolio. As Broll Auctions and Gross sales chief govt Norman Raad famous, 95% of Kempston’s holdings are industrial, industrial and farming properties, primarily on the coast. Ponte, a residential outlier in Johannesburg, is the odd one out. Additionally, Kempston Properties is a part of the identical group as Kempston Truck Rent and its focus is within the logistics area, particularly in terms of its alternative of actual property.
After years of revitalising it — putting in biometric safety, refurbishing flats and stabilising its tenant base — Kempton Properties is able to cross the torch.
Raad stated the sale, introduced in February 2025, has generated buzz, with greater than 50 inquiries on day one. Many extra have registered since however it’s early days concerning what number of will submit a suggestion to buy after their due diligence is full.
Who’s the perfect purchaser? Kempston is hoping for a non-public investor who’ll crew up with the Metropolis of Johannesburg. The town’s eager to remain within the loop — to not purchase, however to make sure Ponte’s subsequent chapter aligns with its city renewal targets.
This isn’t only a property flip; it’s an opportunity to form a chunk of Johannesburg’s future. The truth that there are usually not a number of sectional title house owners and Kempston Properties owns each condominium within the constructing is a win.
I might see this constructing being a superb possibility in terms of fixing our reasonably priced housing subject or probably a pupil lodging conversion.
With its prime location close to Hillbrow, an 80%-plus tenancy price, and that large advert area and movie location, Ponte is a goldmine for somebody with a imaginative and prescient — whether or not they’re chasing rental revenue or cultural clout, or each. The yield would attraction to most potential buyers.
Raad, who has been in the actual property public sale enterprise for greater than 23 years, says this can be one of many largest and by far most iconic property gross sales of his profession. He additionally says Ponte is the right alternative for town to associate with the likes of Kempston to enhance current deserted and hijacked buildings.
For me, Ponte’s greater than a constructing — it’s a testomony to survival. We are able to’t escape what she is and the place she has been. She’s a beacon of hope. If she will be restored, why can’t Johannesburg be restored too?
From her Vegas-of-Africa heyday to her dystopian lows, Ponte has weathered the storms of a altering, advanced metropolis. No matter the brand new proprietor decides to do with Ponte, there is no such thing as a doubt that it is going to be laborious work. Will they see the grit and glamour I do? One factor’s for certain: Ponte Tower gained’t simply be bought when these bids shut on April 10, 2025 — she’ll be reborn. Once more.
Ask Ash examines South Africa’s property, structure and residing areas. Proceed the dialog together with her on electronic mail ([email protected]) and X (@askashbroker).