Join the club that lives and works in Sandton
● One of SABMiller’s former office blocks in Sandton is being hollowed out and turned into more than 200 flats.
The development by BlackBrick is part of a larger move to give Sandton more feet over its quiet weekends by increasing the mix of residential offerings in the business district, dominated by banks, law firms and several corporate head offices.
The block, which faces Fredman Drive on one side but can also be accessed from the cul-de-sac of Park Lane, will soon house 208 residential units, a short-stay hotel, a co-working space, a restaurant and several other trendy amenities accessible through club membership.
Those who buy into the BlackBrick development, and the tenants who occupy the flats, will automatically become club members.
“The vision is to eventually offer BlackBrick members access to a network of residential clubs, which allow for fluid, facilitated movement between BlackBrick properties in different cities,” says BlackBrick founder Moritz Wellensiek.
BlackBrick offers units from R950,000 but they range all the way up to penthouses with views of Sandton’s skyline or the tree-covered suburbs to the west.
AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller three years ago was followed by a slimmingdown exercise that put office blocks such as this four-storey one on the market.
BlackBrick is adding two levels and the brewer, which still has offices in the building next door, will retain parking space for use during the day.
Because the block was built initially as open-plan, lined with cubicles for the brewer’s desk workers, it had plenty of space, which BlackBrick will use for amenities such as a library, a boxing gym, cinema room and even a meditation room.
The vision is to allow BlackBrick members access to a network of clubs Moritz Wellensiek
BlackBrick founder