- Carlton Centre
The Carlton Centre is a
skyscraper and shopping centre located in downtownJohannesburg ,South Africa . At 223 metres (731 ft), it is the tallest building inAfrica and about half the height of theSears Tower inChicago .Anglo American Properties began construction in the late 1960s with the demolition of the old Carlton Hotel and the closure of roads to form a city superblock. Massive excavation works saw a crater formed, where pilings were driven into the ground to support the new structure. The building was officially opened in 1973, around the same time as the Sears Tower and some two years after the opening of the
World Trade Center . Its construction gave further impetus to the nickname that was given to Johannesburg: "the New York of Africa."The Carlton Centre was designed by high-profile US architectural firm
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill . It has 50 stories, including a viewing deck on the 50th floor, which affords views of the whole city andPretoria . The building is the head office of transport parastatalTransnet , which has owned the complex since 1999.During June 2007
Maria Ramos , Transnet group chief executive revealed Transnet's intention to offer the building for sale. The Carlton Centre has been serving as Transnet's headquarters since 2000, when the parastatal purchased it for ZAR R32 million from Anglo American Properties. The disposal of the property forms part of Transnet's restructuring program which includes the disposal of non-core assets.Although Transnet has given no indication of the price, the replacement cost of the building has been estimated at ZAR R1.5 billion. [ [http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-24_2132870 Carlton Centre up for sale: South Africa: News: Companies: Fin24 ] ]
The high crime rate in the downtown area of Johannesburg encouraged many of the buildings former tenants to relocate to more secure locations. Some claim that the building has now been abandoned [ [http://dojcarltonhotel.blogspot.com/ Death of Johannesburg: The Carlton Hotel ] ] .
References
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