Ponte City Apartments
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Ponte City Apartments is a skyscraper in the Hillbrow neighbourhood of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1975 to a height of 173 metres, making it the tallest residential skyscraper in the southern hemisphere. It was an extremely desirable address for its views over all of Johannesburg and its surroundings, but after the end of apartheid many gangs moved into the building and it had become extremely unsafe. There were some proposals in the mid-1990s to turn the building into a highrise prison. The building is now under new management which has improved security as well as the standard of repair.[1]
The sign on top of the building is the highest and largest sign in the southern hemisphere. It currently advertises the South African mobile phone company Vodacom.
German novelist Norman Ohler wrote a novel set in the building: "Ponte City" (by David Philips Publishing, Cape Town) his outstanding accomplishment on building this also contributed to his novel.
In February 2007 director Danny Boyle (Sunshine, 28 Days Later) announced his intention to film a thriller set in the tower; presumeably based on the Ohler novel.
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