A group of Cape Town investors has bought the historic Park Towers for R10,9-million from Port Elizabeth's Echo Foundation.

The landmark was sold in an auction at the beachfront last week.

Warren Jack, who handled the auction, said the new investors did not want to reveal their identity until the transfer of ownership was complete.

That would take at least 10 weeks, he said.

"The sale has been finalised," said Jack. "All the financial guarantees are there and there have been no hiccups.

"It is just the legal matters which need to be sorted out."

The investors were attracted to Park Towers and believed "they could turn it around".

"They see a future in it. They are definitely going to upgrade it and turn it into apartments. There is no indication if they are going to hold them or sell," he said.

The Cape Town group had expressed a keen interest in investing further in the Eastern Cape and in Port Elizabeth in particular, Jack said.

He added that the sale was an indication of an increasing confidence in property in the Eastern Cape, as well as a trend towards more and more out-of-town investors buying property in the city.

"From what I have seen, and I have been in this game for 23 years, in the last three years there have been more investors from out of town than there have been in the last 20."

Park Towers has nine floors and about 100 rooms, some of which have been converted to one- and two-roomed units and offices.

The Echo Foundation, which provides housing and institutional care for the elderly and also runs retirement villages, was the previous owner of the building, but a representative of the organisation yesterday refused to divulge the reason for the sale.

In 2002, Park Towers, still run at the time by the Echo Foundation as an up-market old-age home, was summarily closed down because of dwindling numbers of residents and the deterioration of Central.

The building has not been fully used since then.

Elderly residents were relocated to other foundation premises throughout the city.

Before being converted to retirement accommodation in 1991, Park Towers was a luxury hotel.

In 2004, leading Johannesburg group Don Suite Hotels expressed an interest in buying the building.

The group entered into negotiations with the municipality to clean up and beautify the surrounding area, as well as curb crime, but then dropped its plans to buy the building.

Eastern Province Herald
 
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge