Located on the site of a toll gate established in the Dutch East India era, and first built in 1779, Houw Hoek Inn has retained much of the original architecture, and the ground floor bears testimony to the grandeur of a previous age.
Houw Hoek Inn is for sale by tender. Zoned as a resort, this establishment is in excellent condition and currently comprises 49 rooms with 120 beds, conferencing facilities for 120 people, an a la carte restaurant and a pub.Boasting the first liquor licence issued in South Africa, the establishment features in the memories of generations of Capetonians. Few have not attended a wedding or conference there, or at least stopped off for a traditional scone tea and the legendary Saturday night dinner dance or Sunday Carvery.
Situated in the heart of the Kogelberg or Biosphere Reserve, and unmissable from the N2, just 45 minutes from Cape Town and 75km from Cape Town International Airport, Houw Hoek Inn offers city dwellers an easy, accessible retreat. The establishment is for sale by tender.
According to Greeff Properties CEO, Mike Greeff, while Houw Hoek Inn has been in continuous operation for longer than any other hotel in South Africa, it is a thoroughly modern three-star facility with substantial infrastructure, staff and goodwill. A shrewd investor will have no difficulty polishing this jewel.
The hotel is in excellent condition and currently comprises 49 rooms with 120 beds, conferencing facilities for 120 people, an a la carte restaurant and the ‘Hitching Post’ pub. Other amenities include a squash court, two swimming pools, a tennis court, volleyball court, putt-putt course, three boreholes and a generator with more than adequate spare capacity.
Greeff says zoned as a resort and with loads of vacant property, there is significant potential to increase the scale and profitability of the business going forward. Houw Hoek Inn currently hosts more than 100 weddings and conferences a year.
Greeff along with the seller are of the opinion that sale by tender is the optimal vehicle for the effective sale of a facility such as Houw Hoek Inn. “A sale by tender is an effective sales mechanism in that it helps sellers make a definite sale by a certain deadline without losing value in the process.”
The process produces offers which reflect current market value as defined by a variety of interested investors. “A tender creates potential for a premium price through buyer competition and their bids are the ultimate expression of perceived value. The finite time frame for a tender process adds to the urgency and prompts serious investors to act,” he says.
A sale by tender is essentially a type of closed, silent auction. When selling a property by tender, buyers submit offers prior to a specified date and time. The offers are presented in separate sealed envelopes and prospective buyers remain unaware of the prices competitors are submitting. Once the deadline for submissions has passed, the seller opens the sealed offers in the presence of the agent and selects the most acceptable offer. If none of the offers are found to be acceptable, the agent goes back to the potential buyers to communicate the same in order to solicit revised offers.
Greeff says the sale by tender offers certain advantages over an auction, in that the seller maintains control of the process and is not put under pressure as with the normal auction procedure. “Unlike an auction, a sale by tender can be negotiated after expiry, giving all parties more latitude to conclude a satisfactory sale.”
The tender process closes at 5pm on Wednesday, 3 September. The reserve price is R42 million plus VAT.
Greeff says buyers are permitted to make a conditional offer, but must adhere to the seller’s terms. These terms and conditions are included in an official tender pack which can be downloaded.
For more information, contact George Joubert on 083 306 0620.
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