A new chapter in the life of the glitzy Ritz hotel

If you've ever driven through Sea Point in Cape Town and caught a glimpse of that tall, skinny building towering above Main Road, then you already know her.

- Ash Müller

She's hard to miss at 23 storeys high, 80 metres tall, with sleek curves and a shiny skyline presence that still steals the show even when she's asleep. I'm talking, of course, about The Ritz Hotel.

She's bold and legendary. And now, after standing empty for nearly seven years, she's finally been sold.

Yes, the grande dame of Sea Point has officially changed hands in what insiders say was a deal worth anything from R240 million to R300 million. An international family-owned hospitality group has taken over from another family business that owned the property for decades. It's a big moment, not just for Cape Town real estate, but for everyone who remembers The Ritz for what she once was, and who dreams about what she could still become.

And as someone obsessed with buildings, their stories and the strange, beautiful crossroads where the two meet, this one feels personal.

Construction of The Ritz wrapped up in 1970, and even then, it was considered futuristic. The way it was built was groundbreaking for its time — literally. The hotel's rooms, including the bathrooms, were all prebuilt offsite using modular construction methods — a technique that feels modern even by today's standards — and dropped in, one by one, from the top of the structure. It was a bold, efficient way to construct a high-rise hotel in a prime location, and it earned the project a string of awards in the early 1970s.

The original owner, Barney Hurwitz — a pharmaceutical mogul — was no stranger to risk or innovation. He was the man behind the vision and the money. But he also knew when to let the professionals run the show. In the mid-1980s, he contracted Protea Hotels to manage and market the building, and that's when The Ritz began its golden years.