Home | Investing | Joburg Gladstone Hotel fetches R4,4m

Joburg Gladstone Hotel fetches R4,4m

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One of Johannesburg’s oldest surviving buildings, the old Gladstone Hotel, on the corner of Commissioner and Von Wielligh Streets, was sold for R4,4m by Auction Alliance yesterday.

A development site in Vereeniging fetched R20m at the same auction.

Probably, named after the famous British Liberal statesman William Gladstone, who served as prime minister four times in the Victorian era, the hotel was renowned for accommodating early visiting theatre groups.

In its latter days it was run as a “mom and pop” hotel by an elderly couple who offered a home from home for residents who were provided with packets of sandwiches if they could not be back for lunch.

When the hotel finally closed down, it was converted into a commercial building with retail shops on the ground floor.

In its heyday the Gladstone was in a precinct known for its hotels, including the famous old Carlton, the Flag, Toner’s and Salisbury and the Gresham.

William Pagel, of the Pagel Circus fame, apparently stayed in Toner’s Hotel when his circus visited Johannesburg.

“There was strong interest in the auction today, especially in development land,” marketing director Craig Berman said.

In top spot was 384ha of development land on Mariebou Road, Uitvlugt, Vereeniging. In a liquidation sale, the site was knocked down for R20m after an opening bid of R15m.

Another lot that fetched an eight figure price was a threestorey A-grade office-retail building in Doringkloof, Centurion, that auctioneer Pieter Geldenhuys said meets all the criteria of “position, position, position”. It received a bid of R11m and was sold with vacant occupation.

First under the hammer was an entire six-storey building with a gross lettable area of 2003m² on Davies Street, Doornfontein, that attracted a bid of R1,2m.

Other development land lots included a 4636m² erf on Bengal Street, Laudium that fetched R3m, and 21 industrial stands in Ekandustria, 10km north of Bronkhorstspruit. The 66,2ha site was brought to auction in a liquidation sale.

The 21,4ha leisure resort Erina Spa on Barrage Road on the Vaal River, with 500m of river frontage was knocked down for R3m.