ENTREPRENEUR: Moritz Wellensiek, founder of BlackBrick
Empty offices get a makeover aimed at millennials who might not want to be tied to one place but want a range of living amenities
In the late 1980s, when Moritz Wellensiek was four, his German father — an obstetrician-gynaecologist —was offered a position at a Durban hospital.For his father and his Italian-born mother it began a back-and-forth life between SA, Germany and Italy. And aside from helping the young Wellensiek learn many languages, it sparked his wanderlust.He is now 35. His latest innovation is turning empty office buildings into an international network of co-living and co-working communities that would appeal to other free-minded global travellers.Wellensiek’s office-to-residential conversion venture began even before Covid. In 2018 he convinced SA Breweries to sell him its former head office on Fredman Drive, Sandton. He turned the 10,000m² mothballed building into 208 studio, one-and two-bedroom residential and hotel apartments. Its red face-brick shell was painted a dark charcoal and BlackBrick had found its name.Within 35 days of its launch, 90% of BlackBrick Sandton’s units were sold at pri...
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