Updated: Sea Point's Ritz Hotel could soon be in new hands and ready to add some glitz

Located on the popular Atlantic Seaboard, the Ritz Hotel Cape Town is on the brink of being sold for R240-300 million to either a Dutch or French company. 

Yesterday Bruce Hendricks, MD of Hendricks Harmse Attorneys, one of the representatives of the owners and whose company is managing the Ritz Hotel building, confirmed that they were deep in negotiations for the sale, with some i's to be dotted and some t's to be crossed. "Depending on the final stages of these negitiations, the sale could go through by next Friday," he said.

Hendricks could neither confirm or deny the amount the owner had accepted for the sale nor with whom they are negotiating. The negotiations had been going on for several months and a price had been agreed on.

However there were still some final issues being negotiated and that would be the deciding factor on whether the building will put up a "sold" sign next Friday. We had previously reported that the building had already been sold. However Hendricks said the deal had not as yet been sealed,

It is believed the deal is being brokered by a local estate agency via a private person with international connection and that the buyer (a consortium) is said to be going to continue with the renovations of the building which were half-way completed before drama hit it in 2018. Hendricks would neither confirm nor deny this nor anything further on the matter. 

This was not the first offer taken to the owners, with the hotel in a prime position and ripe for renovation and upliftment. South African developers were themselves vying for ownership. "It's a prime piece of property - 23 storeys which you won't be able to get approval for again in Sea Point - with some bulk available for extra development," said one agent.

Developers with whom I spoke say it would take at least "a few R100 million" to fix and restore the building. "Who ever bought it has deep pockets," said one developer. The developers and agents say the building is "shot". The first ten floors are basically a concrete shell, the lifts have been condemned, the water and electricty is a major issue. "Whoever bought this place is not worried about money," said another.

It is believed the deal is being privately brokered but through an agency here. There had been another offer on the table a short while back but the potential local buyers pulled out and offers from about R240 million were being taken at the time. 

Atlantic Seaboard agents were this week abuzz with the news of the sales, an open secret they say, however no one was willing to absolutely confirm or deny the sale on record ... but they had all heard it was sold... and not by those I interviewed.

However, a stop-over at the once fashionable, fabulous and desirable Ritz Hotel Cape Town this week, had it locked up and looking anything but glamourous.

A security guard came to ask me what I was doing there. "I heard it's been sold." He replied: "Don't believe everything you've been told... there are always a lot of stories about this building and none come true."

It is easy to see why he may feel a bit cynical. Rumours have been swirling since Nicky van der Walt and his company in 2018 soft launched the hotel with what was at the time rumoured to have been a R120 million rejuvenation.

But its planned reopening was ultimately unsuccessful when the Cape Town High Court ordered Van de Walt's management company to vacate the building in July 2018, effectively halting the reopening. 

At the time it was reported that the Cape Town High Court ruled Van de Walt’s management company had displayed “chutzpah of the first order” by occupying the Sea Point hotel since March 2017 without paying a cent to Ritz Plaza‚ which owned the property.

On Wednesday the derelict and neglected dame - the 23-storey Ritz Hotel, full of dust and some autumn leaves on the once welcoming entrance mat, some broken windows and a sign with no lights to welcome a visitor, stood somewhat frazzled in the grey winter skies. The security guard assured me that no one has been living in the building, a big feat given how empty buildings are often illegally occupied in a city that has an affordable housing crisis.

Some agents on Cape Town's exclusive Atlantic Seaboard say it's a done deal, saying it would elevate the area - once the full renovations were done - and of course add to the already hefty price tag for apartments in Sea Point. At present "you can forget about" getting a two-bed of even 75m2 - even without parking - for anything under R3m, they say.

But the renovations to upgrade The Ritz could take years still, and it won't happen overnight.

In recent times there have been many hotel acquisitions by consortiums.

It was previosly rumoured that Kasada, an independent real estate private equity platform dedicated to the hospitality industry in Africa, which acquired the former Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence and the prestigious Cape Grace Hotel, had been interested in The Ritz, but whether they were the possible buyers has not yet been made public. 

French Group LVMH, the French luxury goods group that owns brands such as Moët & Chandon, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, itself bought the Belmond – the hotel chain that owns Cape Town's Mount Nelson Hotel “the Nellie” – for $3.2bn (R46bn) in 2019.

One thing is for sure, if The Ritz finally got its glitz back it would elevate that part of Sea Point - already on its way up with upgrades to developments such as the Adelphi Centre which is set to get a Woolworths  - to new heights.

We will be following this closely.

This is a developing story and will be updated as news comes to light.