“There’s Hope for SA”: Joburg Hijacked Building Converted Into Affordable Student Accommodation

Johannesburg’s inner city has long been ground zero for hijacked buildings, but one property in the CBD has just become a symbol of what is possible. Remington Court, a building that had been hijacked since 2012 and declared unsafe, has been fully restored and converted into affordable student accommodation, and South Africans could not believe their eyes.

The building spent more than a decade in a state of decay after it was taken over by hijackers. For years, it stood as another casualty of Johannesburg’s growing building crisis, written off and forgotten.

A decade of damage, undone

That all changed when the property was finally rescued and given a complete overhaul. The transformation was so dramatic that before-and-after images of the building spread quickly across social media, with Mzansi stopping in their tracks to take it all in.

CoolStoryBru took to social media on 22 April 2026 to share the news with Mzansi.

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South Africans flooded the comments with excitement, with many calling on authorities and developers to replicate the project across other abandoned buildings in the city. For a Johannesburg inner city that rarely gets good news, this one landed differently.

See the before and after images in the Instagram clip below:

Mzansi is stunned by the transformation

@kalou_dope commented:

“Remington Court. I was part of the legal team that finalised the eviction procedure in 2023. 😁😅”

@bazil_gongs said:

“There might still be hope for this country of ours after all. 🙌”

@askashbroker noted:

“It’s great news. Wish we to see more of this in the Jozi CBD.👏👏👏”

Source: Briefly News