The Carlton Centre is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in central Johannesburg, South Africa. At , it was the tallest building in Africa for 46 years from its completion in 1973 until 2019. It is today the continent's fifth tallest building after The Leonardo (also in Johannesburg), the Mohammed VI Tower in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria and the Iconic Tower in Egypt. From completion until 1977 it was also the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere: the only South African building to have held that title. The foundations of the two buildings in the complex are in diameter and extend down to the bedrock, below street level. The building houses both offices and shops, and has over 46 per cent of the floor area below ground level.
The Carlton Centre is linked to the Carlton Hotel by a below-ground shopping centre with over 180 shops.
History
Design and construction
Part of the land required for this project consisted of northern and southern city blocks bordered by Commissioner Street in the north, and Main in the south connected by Smal Street. To the west was Kruis Street connected by Fox Street to Von Wielligh in the east. The concept plan was for a fifty storey office building, 600 room luxury hotel, and a department store at ground level. Excavation of the superblocks basement began in 1966 by LTA, excavating 1 million tons of earth to a depth of 30m and boreholes drilled to keep out the water table. Offices shops and shops opened between 1971 and 1972. Western International Hotels was appointed to run the new Carlton Hotel. The disposal of the property forms part of Transnet's restructuring programme, which includes the disposal of non-core assets. Due to the Great Recession, the parastatal announced it would not seek a buyer until markets recovered.
Although Transnet has given no indication of the price, the replacement cost of the building has been estimated at R1.5 billion.
The centre, after being almost empty, now has 93 percent occupancy of its office space and retail occupancy of 65 percent. Pick n Pay plans to take 3,000 square metres in the centre and the South African Revenue Service has moved from Rissik Street to its premises of 5,000 square metres in the centre. While there have been proposals to reinstate the Carlton Hotel at some stage, no official announcements to this end have been made.
Other information
The 50th and topmost floor of the Carlton Centre was called the Carlton Panorama and is known colloquially as the "Top of Africa". Once the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Carlton Centre opened with the 5-star and 30-storey Carlton Hotel taking up most of the floor space of the complex. The hotel was popular among the rich and famous, hosting many famous guests over the years. Urban decay in the inner city during the 1990s affected the hotel, which ceased operations in 1998 after nearly 25 years of operation.
Gallery
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See also
- List of tallest buildings in South Africa
- List of tallest buildings in Africa