Ash Müller
@Askash • 58,682 subscribers
Property Media Professional | Content Creator | Award-Winning Journalist | Speaker | Tweets are my own opinion not advice.📩For collaborations: [email protected]
Shorts
Videos
Since opening in 2021, The Rockefeller Hotel has achieved an average occupancy of around 76%. I personally feel that The Rockefeller Hotel is one of those classic tales of the underdog. Designed and launched prematurely during COVID, this building is now perfectly poised to serve the tourism market, the conference capital of SA (Cape Town), and is locked in with corporate bookings for the next few years. An interesting opportunity is coming to market, and no, it’s not the usual off-plan aparthotel sales pitch we have become accustomed to in the Mother City. The developer has decided to release 60 units for sale. The building currently yields between 10% and 11%. Use it yourself or earn from day one in the rental pool. The beauty of this fully functional hotel asset is that the numbers are based on actual data from an already-operating building. From a hospitality perspective, Newmark Hotels, a well-known international hotelier, has been running this hotel since 2021. Quick facts about the Rockefeller: • Location: 12 Christiaan Barnard Street, Foreshore, Cape Town • Studios with 1-bedroom and 1-bathroom (25m2 - 42m2) from R1 745 000 - R2 995 000. Your estimated monthly net income is R15 000 - R25 200. • Amenities: conferencing and co-working facilities, boardrooms, 24HR concierge services, restaurants, fitness facilities, spa, rooftop leisure space and indoor pool Final developer release - 60 units from R1.745 million. Launching Online, Tuesday 14 July 2026 at 11:00am | Register Now
Ash Müller127,395 次观看 • 13 天前
You thought Club Med was a massive project for the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, but have you heard about the R50 billion city being developed?!😱 Zimbali, as we know it, is about to transform into a luxurious city on the coast. Developed by IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFAHR), they will now build the Zimbali Marina and The Zimbali Country Estate with over 1000 residential units, located across the N2 from Zimbali Lakes. Over the past two decades, R30 billion has already been invested in Zimbali Coastal Resort and Zimbali Lakes Resort (under construction). Zimbali Lakes includes the Ernie Els Signature Course, which opened in April 2025. The above, paired with the newest phases (Zimbali Marina and Zimbali Country Estate), brings this project’s total development cost to R50 billion. It’s all giving Dubai vibes, but I am here for it. It’s great to see the North magnetising so much future investment. I am hoping that this actually ends up happening… And that Club Med will be a catalyst for more resorts to set up shop in this area as well. There are many neighbouring land parcels here that are undeveloped and brimming with potential. The weather here is excellent year-round, and Cape Town has become expensive. The Mother City could do with some coastal competition in the real estate market. The Zimbali Marina project will boost tourism and fishing/commercial activities, while providing world-class residential units. The Zimbali Country Estate will launch next year. What do you think of this Marina development for KZN?
Ash Müller543,129 次观看 • 7 个月前
The biggest hospitality project since Sun City is nearing completion…👏 Valued at over R2 billion with 345 hotel rooms and 66 villas. It took almost two decades for them to find the perfect site on KwaZulu-Natal's North Coast. You’ve heard so much about it, and now you are about to walk through the construction site for yourself. Take a tour of South Africa’s first-ever Club Med Resort, which is well on its way to completion. Driving through the entrance of the 32-hectare resort, you cannot visualise just how big this project actually is. From a drone's-eye view, you can see construction workers working on 7 separate projects - each valued at R200-350 million. No phases of development here; everything on site runs simultaneously since day one of breaking ground. To put this into perspective, the development of a small convenience shopping centre (let’s say 10 000m2 in size) is valued at between R80-100 million. The project value of this Club Med would be identical to building 21 of these convenience shopping centres - all at the same time. That should give you a pretty good idea of just how colossal the Club Med resort project is. In November last year, they recorded over 1.3 million man-hours of on-site local labour. Insane and fabulous for our employment sector. And the most impressive part? No construction delays. Club Med is well on its way to opening on its initial grand opening date in July 2026. Thank you, STRUXIT civil engineers, for the invitation to tour this massive project. Good luck to the on-site team in the final stretch.
Ash Müller372,269 次观看 • 5 个月前
Durban beachfront is getting their own amusement park valued at R1 billion - they are redeveloping the old Funworld Site🎪🎢🎡 I have been waiting forever for this announcement. The eThekwini Municipality shared renders with me earlier today, and they look incredible. • Completion date: 2027 • Jobs created during construction: 900 • Permanent jobs created once open: 500 • Project by: Masithu Consulting and Project Managers (MCPM) Key public upgrades will include: • Themed food courts. • Neon-lit pedestrian walkways. • An alcohol-free, family-friendly environment. • Panoramic viewing decks overlooking the ocean and city skyline. • A fully-redeveloped splash-park and children’s water play area - funded entirely by the developer. Some of the exciting amusement park rides include: the Lightning Roller Coaster, Disko 24, Vertical Swing, and a 1,500m2 Virtual Reality Theme Park with more than 160 interactive games and global e-sports activations. The park will be developed in partnership with 2 leading Italian amusement engineering firms, well known for projects at Ferrari World, Universal Studios and Disneyland. The city's revival of its beachfront properties through public-private partnerships is excellent. This redevelopment is part of a larger R2-billion private-sector investment pipeline along the Golden Mile. It complements the Joe Kools redevelopment, enhancements to the Elangeni & Maharani hotels, and the City’s long-term beachfront renewal plan. Durban has the best climate year-round and deserves to be one of South Africa’s top tourism destinations. Looking forward to seeing the former Funworld Site restored. Who has memories connected to Funworld? Let me know in the comments.
Ash Müller319,711 次观看 • 7 个月前
I only learned this because Black Coffee got divorced. The more people I spoke to about it, the more I realised how few people know about it. If lobola has been paid, your property might already be co-owned. So I spoke to Cor van Deventer, a conveyancer at VDM Attorneys, to unpack what most South Africans are getting wrong. Traditional marriages are legally recognised under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1999. Once lobola is paid, you are legally married. If no antenuptial contract was signed before lobola was paid, this means that if you jointly own a house and get divorced, you guys remain halvies on the house. Whether Home Affairs paperwork exists or not is irrelevant. That is the part almost nobody plans for. If you want to protect your real estate assets, an antenuptial contract must be signed before the lobola ceremony concludes. The Black Coffee divorce tested this in court, and just yesterday the Constitutional Court confirmed it: antenuptial contracts signed after a customary marriage are not valid. If you are getting married under customary law, treat the legal advice as part of the ceremony and not an afterthought. Even when romance fades, paperwork lasts forever🖤
Ash Müller179,656 次观看 • 5 个月前
Have you heard about the new R18 billion ‘city’ being built right next to Sandton in Jozi?👀 It’s called the Bankenveld District City (BDC), and here’s what’s up: • Size: 300 hectares • Construction timeline: 15 - 20 years • Location: Between Sandton and Waterfall, just off the Marlboro offramp. • Developers: Eris Property Group & Calgro M3 (with Nedbank Property Partners as equity partner) The plan is ambitious: nearly 30 000 homes, plus a shopping centre, schools, offices, clinics, green spaces and 500 000m2 of industrial, commercial and retail space. The land (portion 5 of the Farm Bergvallei 37) once belonged to Wits and was sold for R200 million. About 34% of the site will go into infrastructure. Calgro M3 will drive the residential side, while Eris handles retail, commercial, industrial, healthcare and education. Developers are calling it a “city”… but to me, it feels more like a large-scale mixed-use precinct. Still, it raises important questions about how Joburg is growing: • Will projects like this ease pressure on Sandton and Waterfall, or just extend the urban sprawl? • Can infrastructure keep up, especially roads, utilities, water, electricity, and public transportation? • And at a time when housing affordability is a national concern, how many of these 30 000 homes will really be accessible to the middle market? South Africa needs bold developments that match the scale of our challenges. Challenges that we know the government cannot solve solo. I am looking forward to seeing these private developers make a difference with BDC. Is this the future of Joburg’s growth, or just another mega-project with too many promises?
Ash Müller158,696 次观看 • 11 个月前
Why are developers pouring billions into warehouses on one stretch of Kempton Park? I went to see for myself. I took a tour of the 25-hectare JT Ross Park: Plumbago 5 site in Riverfields that is currently under construction. What you see in the video are 4 of the 8 warehouses going up (sizes range from 4500m2 to 24 000m2), these will be complete during Q3 and Q4 2026. The corner of Gauteng where Kempton Park, Boksburg and Germiston meet is the busiest economic engine in the whole Ekurhuleni metro. This triangle alone accounts for around 43% of the metro's economy, more than any other part of the city. The metro's own planners call it the core, the logistics hub for the continent and the country's warehousing base. The Riverfields logistics precinct sits right inside the most productive corner of a metro that, on its own, drives close to a quarter of Gauteng's output. Tenants taking up warehouse space in the precinct are setting up in the part of the country that already moves the most goods. Gauteng handles the bulk of South Africa's freight and holds the biggest cluster of warehousing and distribution space anywhere in the country, and this warehouse development plugs straight into it, minutes from OR Tambo and onto the R21, R23 and the wider freight network. From here, you can reach the airport, the rest of Gauteng, and neighbouring countries without battling the congestion of the older hubs. Demand for logistics warehousing space has been running so far ahead of supply that warehouse vacancy rates across the country sat below 5% through most of 2025, with the online shopping boom and a shortage of new stock keeping good, well-placed space hard to come by. Modern warehouses in the right spot are not sitting empty. For a logistics operator located at JT Ross Park, Plumbago 5, you are close to your market, close to your transport links and parked in the part of the country doing the most business.
Ash Müller19,506 次观看 • 28 天前
I finally took a tour of Ponte City. For years I’ve driven past it, written about it, spoken about it, and used it as a reference point whenever the conversation turns to Johannesburg, urban decay, or the rise and fall of great cities. But I had never actually been inside. Ponte City opened in 1975. 54 storeys. 173 metres tall. For 48 years it held the title of the tallest building in Africa, only losing it to a tower in Egypt that beat it by just a few metres. At its peak, around 1,000 people lived here. At its lowest point, nearly 8,000 people were packed into the building without proper water or electricity, and Ponte was labelled Africa’s first vertical slum. The stories from those years sound unreal. Entire floors used as brothels. Trash piled up inside the hollow core to the 14th floor. It took three years to remove the waste, and over twenty bodies were found during the clean up. Trucks couldn’t reach the site, so workers carried everything out by hand. Since 2014, the internal windows have been welded shut to stop people throwing rubbish into the centre. The building was refurbished before the 2010 World Cup, and today around 2,000 people live there. When I arrived for the tour, my guide warned me not to panic if I heard a loud bang. Residents sometimes throw nappies or trash out of the windows. Not exactly the welcome you expect when entering one of the most famous residential towers in Africa. And yet, walking inside, I was surprised. Biometric access, 24-hour security and over 480 cameras monitoring the building. Just past the turnstiles was a box full of house keys on the floor. A simple system so school kids can collect their keys and go home if their parents are still at work. We went up to what used to be one of the penthouse suites. Today it’s a shared entertainment space for residents. Baby showers, birthdays, after-work gatherings. The view from the top is incredible, and also a little heartbreaking. In the 1990s, this exact penthouse could be rented for about R800 a month. Four bedrooms, two lounges, sauna, jacuzzi, braai area, fully furnished. From there we went to the community centre, where volunteers help children with homework after school. Downstairs, there’s convenience retail for residents. Fruit and veg shop, takeaway, butcher, tailor, pizza place. A small ecosystem keeping the building alive. Then we went to the centre - Ponte’s famous hollow core. Built on a slope, the circular design made structural sense, but standing there feels like standing inside a monument to everything that went wrong in the Johannesburg CBD. Cold metal stairs, dark concrete and echoes bouncing up fifty floors. And then, a bang. Someone threw a full bag of rubbish into the middle of the core while we were standing there. My guide didn’t even flinch. “They clean every day,” he said. That moment was really profound. Because you can install cameras, weld windows shut and hire security. But if people don’t respect the place they live in, nothing really changes. Standing inside Ponte feels symbolic of what happened to Johannesburg. A city that was once ambitious, modern, proud. Then hollowed out by neglect, mismanagement, and people who stopped believing the space belonged to them. And yet, Ponte refuses to die. The building recently went up for auction. It’s still unsold, which tells you someone believes there’s even more value left in it. The tour ended in the underground parking with rows of cars - some working, some abandoned, some stripped down to nothing but shells. Ponte is not just a story about urban decay. It’s a story about what happens when a city loses control and what it takes to build that control back. And walking out of Ponte that day, I couldn’t stop thinking that Johannesburg and Ponte City have something in common. Both were once symbols of possibility and both went through years that nearly broke them. Yet, both are still standing, waiting to see if the people inside are ready to rebuild again.
Ash Müller66,498 次观看 • 4 个月前
The entire Gupta compound in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, which went on auction last month, has officially SOLD for R34.5 million💸 It's been 7 years since the Gupta family fled South Africa, and the Business Rescue Practitioners have officially accepted an offer for all three properties at their sprawling Saxonwold compound at a price tag of R34 500 000 - this includes commission, VAT and the furniture. That is almost half of what the properties were said to be worth at their pre-sale valuation of R64.5 million. Along with the sale of these properties, the same buyer also snapped up 7A Saxonwold Drive for an additional R6.5 million. When you tour the homes, you’ll find Hindu-inspired wall murals adorned with gold paint, matching the lavish gold accents in the furniture. Abandoned Cartier catalogues, multiple safes, and prayer rooms still linger as reminders of the past owners’ opulence. The auction drew plenty of intrigue: • Registration required a R50 000 refundable fee. • Properties and furniture were sold separately. • Business Rescue Practitioners assured buyers they wouldn’t inherit outstanding rates and taxes (totalling close to R700 000) - those remain the responsibility of the Gupta-owned Confident Concept (Pty) Ltd, now in business rescue. I watched the live auction and here’s what happened: Erf 295 - 3 Saxonwold Drive – this property fetched a bid of R3 300 000. • Land size: 3687m2 • Building size: 349m2 • Municipal value: R5 542 000 • Monthly rates and taxes: R6031 per month • Generator included in the sale • Single-storey home, 3-bedrooms, staff quarters 5 Saxonwold Drive – this property achieved zero bids at the auction. • Land size: 4207m2 • Building size: 1547m2 • Municipal value: R21 731 000 • Monthly rates and taxes: R19 186 per month • Generator included in the sale • 3-storey home with 8 bedrooms, indoor pool, jacuzzi, rooftop patio, staff quarters 7 Saxonwold Drive – the bid opened at R5 million; however, only one bidder made an offer of R3 million. • Land size: 1723m2 • Building size: 1840m2 • Municipal value: R36 000 000 • Monthly rates and taxes: R29 433 per month • 3-storey home, 18 (en-suite) bedrooms, cinema, beauty salon. The furniture lots fetched bids for between R60 000 and R100 000. I am sure that creditors are looking forward to a much-welcomed payday. You can take a tour of the notorious compound below. Video courtesy of my good friends at the The Sandton Times | Lifestyle Media
Ash Müller142,597 次观看 • 11 个月前
🚧UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Bulldozers have torn down the show unit on site, and construction has commenced at Sandton’s newest residential towers valued at R2 billion • Total apartments: 529 • Hotel with 32 rooms • Development name: Olympus • Developer: Tricolt and Growthpoint Properties • Both towers will be completed by mid-2028 • Over the past 8 months, 85% of the residential units have been sold = R1.2 billion in sales. Apartment breakdown: • Exec Suites (R1 780 000 - R 2 320 000) • Exec One-Bedrooms (R2 035 000 - R2 615 000) • One-Bedrooms (R2 431 000 - R3 410 000) • Two-Bedrooms (R4 930 000 - R5 250 000) • Penthouses (R14 350 000 - R45 035 000) The development will consist of two towers named Athena and Apollo. Marble Hospitality Group (an adored brand on the Jozi foodie scene) will open a 5-star hotel with 32 rooms in this development. The hotel will be spread over 2 floors below the penthouses in Tower 2 (Apollo). The group owns Marble, Saint and the popular late-night convenience spot, The Pantry. The group will also be opening a Marble restaurant on the 18th floor and a Pantry by Marble on the ground floor. Who’s excited to see this Sandton development go up?
Ash Müller90,089 次观看 • 7 个月前
The last time I visited this building in the Foreshore, Cape Town, it was a construction site. I stood in the centre of a cement pit (that would soon become a pool) with architect Robert Silke and discussed the plans for the project. Today, I got to see the progress at Zeeland Pier with my own eyes. This mixed-use development is now complete, with Phase I already being occupied primarily for short-term stays and generating rental income. Zeeland Pier Phase II is currently under construction next door and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. From circular cruise-ship-style windows to the playful blue grout between the fish-scale shower floors, the details exude a nautical and fun vibe. I love the natural light that each room can achieve, given the size of the studios. The penthouses are more spacious than I remember from my first tour; some are duplexes, while others span a single level. They’re a special component in this mixed-use development situated in the Foreshore, Cape Town. Another opportunity for retail investors is the 434m2 ground-floor retail unit that is for sale. With floor-to-ceiling glass windows spanning the shop front, this unit is centrally located and offers good exposure for a food and beverage type tenant. The amenities floor is my favourite. A unique Cape Town offering, featuring Table Mountain views, a neat co-working space and an indoor/outdoor heated pool. The gym has herringbone wooden floors - a slick touch. The amount of building activity going on in the Foreshore right now is crazy. Office-to-residential conversions, such as Zeeland Pier, are some of my favourites because the original bones of the building are solid and most offer views of Table Mountain or the seaside. This suburb has undergone a complete transformation over the past decade and continues to evolve. I would attribute its popularity to its proximity to everything. The commute is basically non-existent to the CTICC, the streets of the CBD and the V&A Waterfront. I look forward to watching this suburb continue to progress👏
Ash Müller125,894 次观看 • 11 个月前
You expect a hijacked property story to come out of the Johannesburg CBD… not a multi-million rand suburb like Bryanston. The upmarket suburb of Bryanston is probably one of the wealthiest suburbs in Johannesburg. Houses here are huge, and erf sizes range from 5,000 to 10,000 m2. After a few high-profile raids in Ferndale and Bryanston, one property in particular raised serious red flags. A home valued at R5.1 million had been turned into a full-blown rental business. Nearly 100 people were living illegally on that single property. The “new tenant” didn’t just occupy the house… He built dozens of Wendy houses across the property and started renting them out. He was collecting close to R140 000 per month in rent. Keep in mind that the city stopped supplying water and electricity to this property. The electricity debt to the city was about R1.2 million. But the owner illegally reconnected. There are roughly 25 hijacked properties in Ferndale and close to 20 in Bryanston that are currently under investigation. How does something like this go on for so long? Situations like this don’t happen overnight; they build up over months and years. Pair that with what must have been dozens of neighbours’ complaints. If it can happen in Bryanston, it can literally happen anywhere.
Ash Müller38,095 次观看 • 2 个月前
Not many people know that the biggest indoor shooting range in the Southern Hemisphere is in the basement of Fourways Mall in Jozi💥 Fourways Mall is the largest mall in South Africa, and it recently received close to half a million rands worth of upgrades. One of their newer tenants is Tactical HQ. You can shoot up to 107 metres, and the range accommodates 44 people at once. They also have a store that offers a wide selection of firearms, along with ammunition and accessories. Did you know there was an indoor shooting range inside Fourways Mall?
Ash Müller105,844 次观看 • 10 个月前
No, this is not another retail mall - it’s a R1.2 billion automotive press plant. Take a tour of the 32 000 m2 Ogihara South Africa automotive factory and see how parts for Toyota cars are manufactured. Located in the Dube TradePort’s TradeZone 2 in KwaZulu-Natal, this manufacturing plant is the largest investment within the Dube TradePort. Showcasing the huge success of this Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Think of a SEZ as a “business-friendly bubble” inside a country. It makes it easier and cheaper to do business. It’s a dedicated area with lower taxes, less red tape, and better infrastructure, designed to attract foreign direct investment and boost job creation. This plant has created over 250 jobs, and some workers are flown to Thailand for training. The government is pushing to have 60% of all car production take place locally in SA by 2035. Currently, it’s sitting at about 40%, and this factory accounts for about 2% of that. While walking through this production facility, I’m reminded of the Japanese Kaizen theory, which I came across while reading The Diary of a CEO. Kaizen focuses on making small, continuous improvements instead of big changes. It became well known at companies like Toyota, where workers could stop production to fix problems and suggest better ways of working, making the whole system more efficient over time. Seeing this factory in action, it’s clear they follow that mindset by constantly finding ways to work faster, easier, and better. I would love to hear what you think of the factory in the comment section below.
Ash Müller22,940 次观看 • 2 个月前
Can we please talk about the Hyde Hotel in Rosebank… my new favourite stay-over stop for a trip to Jozi town🔌 I walked into the hotel’s front door framed by purple jacaranda trees in bloom, and the funkiest beat was playing, the coffee machines were buzzing, and the staff greeted me in the trendiest hotel wear I had seen in a long time. Instantly, I was energised by the atmosphere and vibe, reminding me once again that Jozi is one of those cities you have to feel to understand, and The Hyde Hotel is precisely that. The club-like atmosphere I felt when walking through the door was no mistake - I later discovered that this hotel brand was set in the LA nightclub scene and was later converted into a hotel. The brand is deeply connected to music, and the festival vibes are exactly what they want you to experience. There is art adorning almost every wall, and I loved learning that every piece was designed by women in South Africa. Besides the art and banging playlist through the common areas, this hotel plugs every pain point of the Joburg traveller in the coolest way. My personal favourite is the multi-level gym. The finishes and equipment could stand in London’s bouquet of on-trend, boutique gyms. As someone who likes to work out while travelling, I can basically do my entire back-home routine in one building. I was the MC at a property launch that evening, so before I headed out, using the printer for my speech at the in-house co-working space was such a win. Hotel guests have complimentary access to a designated area of Workshop17 to work. Proud Mary is the restaurant that graces the ground floor, and it hums. This hotel is the perfect blend of busy, business and seriously cool energy. This is the first Hyde Hotel on the African continent, and there are 9 worldwide. The 24HR coffee bar is a nice touch, and on some weekends, you can catch a live DJ here when running clubs like The Pack or WRC end their run. Coming from the airport via the Gautrain? Simply WhatsApp the hotel your arrival time at Rosebank station, and they will come collect you in a golf cart - free of charge - for a lift to the hotel. Quick room review: they are HUGE! The high ceilings feature an edgy industrial concrete finish. The rooms have exceptional height - room volume like this is rare nowadays. I adore a handwritten note on arrival, and the Le Creuset mugs add a modern touch. LOVE the large SONY speaker. I also really appreciate that the toilet is in a separate room from the shower. Lastly, you can enter the NPF tasting room via the hotel and choose from over 1,500 whiskeys, mezcals, and other spirits to taste-bud-test, a fun touch. This building used to be the old FNB bank building (hence the building’s name today, The Bank). The building was then redeveloped, increasing its height from 6 to 13 floors. Today, the building consists of commercial space, a gym, Workshop17, the restaurant and the hotel. The new speakeasy restaurant opens this week between the 4th and 5th floors. Sometimes people assume that business travel means staying at a stiff corporate hotel, but that's not the case. It's trendy, inviting, and it’s got groove.
Ash Müller53,356 次观看 • 7 个月前
The Hilton brand has pulled out of the Hilton hotel in Durban, marking the end of an era that began when Nelson Mandela first opened the Hilton in 1997. From post-COVID struggles to evolving investment patterns and the rise of Umhlanga as a new hospitality hub, this story unpacks what’s really driving the change behind the scenes. Thank you for having me, Kaya FM.
Ash Müller16,674 次观看 • 2 个月前
