I keep reading articles about gentrification in downtown Johannesburg. These articles – usually written by foreign journalists, or Capetonians – proclaim the city of Joburg remains blighted, crime-ridden, and poverty-stricken with the exception of a few pockets of upscale hipsterdom, like Maboneng and Braamfontein.
Mini Ponte: My New Favorite Joburg Building
Earlier today I found myself standing on Houghton Drive beneath a cylindrical apartment building in Berea, on the outskirts of the Joburg CBD.
I’d driven past this building dozens of times, and I knew it was nicknamed “Mini Ponte” for its resemblance to the much larger Ponte City apartment building just to the south. But this was the first time I’d looked at Mini Ponte up close.
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Big News About Joburg's Newest Inner City Development
This week I got a behind-the-scenes look at No. One Eloff, an exciting new development project in downtown Joburg.
No. One Eloff is a huge, 1950s-era building that used to be an automotive storage/sales facility (for Rolls Royce and then for Chrysler) and later became an OK Bazaar and then an auction house for repossessed cars. A couple of years ago, a company called Molten Black purchased the building, with the plan of turning it into a residential/retail property. That plan is now in full swing.
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Walking on the Roof of Johannesburg
On a tour with Dlala Nje last weekend, I visited some high-rise rooftops in Berea.
I’ve written about Jozi’s rooftops before (read here and here and here). And here’s the thing about these rooftops: They’re the greatest places in town to enjoy the city, and yet a huge proportion of the city’s population never visits them. Because the best rooftops tend to be in the parts of town where people are scared to go to.