The Harambe Hotel, a mid-20th-century landmark on Ras Desta Damtew St., is undergoing extensive renovations to house the second branch of St. Urael Internal Medicine Speciality Clinic, a known health institution in diabetology and internal medicine.

The Hotel had several tenants, with the last group to operate the property running into bankruptcy and falling behind on rent and taxes. When they eventually vacated the building in 2022, the Federal Housing Corporation (FHC) put it up for lease. A bidder, Mesay Ashenafi, initially won the lease bid but changed his mind, opting not to proceed with his plans to renovate and reopen the Hotel. That left the door open for the Clinic to take over the property for its second branch.

St. Urael Clinic was founded in 2007 by three partners, Genanaw Berihun, Tekleab Mekibib (MD), and Senait Mekibib. The original branch stood near the Rwandan Embassy on Rwanda St., and quickly developed a reputation for speciality care. Over time, the ownership structure shifted to two brothers, Tewodros Gizaw (MD) and Behailu Gizaw. Eventually, Tewodros became the Clinic’s sole owner and the driving force behind its latest expansion.

He has ambitious plans for the new site, broadening the Clinic’s range of services by offering inpatient and intensive care units, as well as surgical procedures.

“We've already invested nearly 120 million Br to renovate the building,” Tewodros disclosed to Fortune. “It needed major work to turn it from a hotel into a medical facility.”

Tewodros believes that once the expanded services are up and running, the Clinic will recoup its investment, citing the site’s central location and accessibility for patients and medical staff. The planned overhaul will bring the total investment to nearly 300 million Br by the time renovations are complete.

The transformation marks the end of an era for a site that played a crucial role during the formative years of African unity.

In the early 1960s, as Africa stood at a historic crossroads, the continent was awash with optimism, political uncertainty, and a yearning for unity. Newly independent states were wrestling with border disputes and ideological rifts, with leaders split between two camps, the Casablanca and the Monrovia groups, each holding strong views about the speed and structure of a united Africa. Doubts lingered whether these rival factions could ever sit together and find common ground.

Emperor Hailesellasie succeeded in bringing the continent’s leaders together to Addis Abeba. The diplomatic breakthrough set the stage for the first African Heads of State Summit, which gave birth to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). But behind the fanfare, Addis Abeba’s preparations were hurried and makeshift. The city simply did not have the hotel capacity to receive such a prominent and distinguished assembly of guests.

Officials scrambled to find enough beds for the visiting delegations, and every resource was pressed into service. Ministry offices, guesthouses, and even private homes were drafted into service. The city’s mainstays at the time, Taitu, Ethiopia, and the Ghion Imperial hotels, shouldered much of the pressure. Even so, the shortage of rooms was a persistent headache for organisers.