[imagesource: Galetti Corporate Real Estate]

The pandemic has hit businesses across almost all sectors rather hard, but those that were already struggling before the lockdown really took a knock.

The Carousel Casino complex in the North West suffered a brutal start to the year with massive losses in the six months ending in June.

Back in April, Sun International CEO Anthony Leeming had already announced that the complex would be closed permanently, and it’s now up for sale.

According to the sales memorandum, after opening its doors in 1991, the Carousel became one of South Africa’s oldest and most popular entertainment centres, and claims to have created hundreds of millionaires during its operations.

The land, which spans in excess of 583 hectares, is broken up into three different portions:

• A vacant land site
• A casino and hotel site
• A residential and game farm site

It’s valued, says Moneyweb, at R529 million, but doesn’t come with a casino licence, so it’s unlikely to sell for that much.

Per BusinessTech, the location, which is next to the N1 national route and has access through the R101 Old Warmbath provincial road, is an ideal location for a number of uses.

The residential area and game farm comes complete with 352 residential homes on an isolated section of farmland. You’ll also find more than a few species of game roaming free.

Combined with the casino building and hotel, this could be the perfect spot for a game farm, contributing to South Africa’s eco-tourism sector.

Back to Moneyweb for a word from Galetti Corporate Real Estate’s CEO John Jack, who believes that the site is a bargain for smart investors.

He noted that the tourism and hospitality sector has faced significant pressure under the lockdown rules implemented by government.

“This has seen marginal assets face closure or re-development. This has led to huge opportunity for investors with strong balance sheets to swoop in and buy well-positioned properties that need a second life,” he said.

“The property is a unique asset in that it actually needs two buyers, one being retail focused and the other a mid-tier residential developer, or alternatively we would look at a retirement estate given the game farm and other facilities on site,” Jack added.

Potential bidders have until the end of October to declare their interest in the property to Galetti.

The best offer wins.

[sources:carouselsalesmemo&businesstech&moneyweb]