What happened Ponte City?

What happened Ponte City?

Decay. During the late 1980s, gang activity had caused the crime rate to soar at the tower and the surrounding neighbourhood. By the 1990s, many gangs moved into the building and it became extremely unsafe. Ponte City became symbolic of the crime and urban decay gripping the once cosmopolitan Berea area.

Who owns Ponte City Apartments?

the Kempston Group
By the late 1990s there was talk of turning Ponte into a prison. But then, in 2001, it began a journey to redemption. Its owner, the Kempston Group, hired a husband-and-wife management team, Elma and Danie Celliers, to set about its rehabilitation.

Is Ponte City Safe?

A team of people still regularly cleans rubbish thrown down into the core. Slowly, it’s become one of the “safest” places in the area where its residents – now mostly middle-class city workers and students – can only gain access by using their fingerprint at entry points.

How many floors is Vodacom flat?

54
Ponte City Apartments/Floors

Who built the Hillbrow Tower?

Construction cost 2 million Rand (at the time, US$2.8 million). The tower was initially known as the JG Strijdom Tower, after JG (Hans) Strijdom, South African Prime Minister from 1954 to 1958….Hillbrow Tower.

Telkom Joburg Tower
Construction started 1968
Completed 1971
Opening 1971
Cost $10,000,000

How many floors does Ponte have?

How many apartments are in Ponte?

Its 464 apartments were 90% let, including the one- and two-bedroomed luxury flats on floors 41-46; the luxury three-bedroomed flats on floors 47-50; and the ultra-luxury four-bedroomed triplex flats on floors 51 to 54, which comprised saunas, two bedrooms-en-suite, a study, lounges (conversation spaces, they were …

How many floors does Carlton Centre have?

50
Carlton Centre/Floors

What is inside the Hillbrow Tower?

The public was able to enter six public floors at the top of the tower. One of the floors housed a popular revolving restaurant named Heinrich’s Restaurant, as well as another non-rotating restaurant known as the Grill Room and the observation floor which was at 197 m height.

What does the name Hillbrow mean?

Hillbrow ( ) is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It acquired a cosmopolitan and politically progressive feel, and was one of the first identifiable gay and lesbian areas in urban South Africa.

Why is the Carlton Hotel abandoned?

Post-closure The hotel failed to receive its hoped-for casino license, the plans fell apart, and the annex closed, too, in April 1998. Anglo American sold the entire Carlton Centre complex to Transnet in 1999 for R33 million, a fraction of what it originally cost to construct.

What is it like to live in Ponte?

Dominating the South African city’s skyline, Ponte – or Ponte City – is the tallest residential tower in Africa, standing at 54-storeys with a completely hollow core. Its past is brutal and terrifying, but what what once stood as a symbol of the city’s growing urban decay, now symbolises rejuvenation for Luptak, and those who live there.

What is Ponte City in South Africa famous for?

Johannesburg’s Ponte City: ‘the tallest and grandest urban slum in the world’ – a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 33. In an inner-city neighbourhood gradually shedding its crime-riddled skin, Ponte is a symbol of the renaissance sweeping South Africa’s commercial capital.

What was it like to live in Ponte City in 1970?

In the 1970s, while the black youth were fighting for a right to education, Ponte City was housing the elite. The six penthouses came fitted with wine cellars, saunas, patio braai areas and roof decks.

What ever happened to Ponte in Ponte?

The government approached Kempston with an idea to turn Ponte into a prison. It was quickly rejected as no-one liked the idea of the Joburg skyline boasting the largest residential building converted into a prison. In 2001, Kempston managed to drag the building back from oblivion.

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