Historic Mansion to Be Auctioned

NEWS

Business Day (South Africa)
May 13, 2005

JOHANNESBURG — The legal battle surrounding the sale by auction of a
historic landmark in Westcliff has been settled and the mansion and
surrounding land in the estate of the late businessman Julien Missak,
goes under the hammer on May 26.

“The sale has attracted enormous of interest, not surprisingly, given
the position and the potential of this superb property,” says Roy
Lazarus of Park Village Auctions, which has received the auction mandate.

The auction involves the main property and its 5896m’ stand and two
other stands, of 2524m’ and 2576m’.

Each property will initially be sold separately under its own title and
the combined properties will then be sold as a single entity. The
properties are all zoned residential 1 and can be consolidated.

There are no conditions attached to the sale other than that the buyer
has to retain the original mansion in terms of the National Heritage
Resources Act, suggesting it be put to use as an hotel-conference centre
or as a private home.

The surrounding stands lend themselves ideally to residential development.

“Position is said to be the watchword of property, and in that respect
this rare property is on the opposite side of the valley to the famed
Westcliff Hotel with sweeping views of Emmarentia and the northern
suburbs beyond,” says Lazarus.

“There is no reserve price on the property, and we expect an excellent
turnout on auction day with strong bidding, which we believe could
realise between R6m and R8m for the combined properties,” he said.

The elegant home was built in 1928, and bequeathed to the then Rand
Afrikaans University (RAU) on condition that it was run as a
philanthropic institution promoting the Armenian and Flemish cultures.

However, over time, RAU was unable to continue meeting those conditions,
and the property duly reverted to two heirs in terms of the Missak will,
namely the monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex in the UK and the
Armenian General Benevolent Union.

A long legal wrangle about the future of the property ensued. However,
all objections have now been resolved, and the auction can proceed
unhindered, says Malcolm Schmidt of Resolution Trust, which is handling
the disposition of the property.