Ethiopia Hotel, one of the country's oldest hospitality establishments and a landmark on Yohannes St., has begun to come down, marking the start of a major redevelopment of the historic property.

Demolition is underway at the conference hall behind the property, while crews are working in the parking area behind corrugated iron sheets that now fence off the site. The main building is slated to follow within days; its remaining life is not expected to stretch beyond October this year.

Ethiopia Hotel opened its doors for the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. After a little over six decades of uninterrupted service, it is being cleared for a tower. Its fall, and that of a heritage building behind it, has reopened a question Addis Abeba keeps failing to settle on which of its old landmarks survive the demolishing spree, and who gets to decide.

The property belongs to BK Group, the conglomerate of the family of Belayneh Kindie, a graduate of a military cadet course in the late 1980s before entering the grain trade with the change of government in 1991. He then moved on to exporting cash crops such as sesame and coffee.

BK Group acquired the Hotel from the former Ethiopian Privatisation Agency in 2010 for 94 million Br and began planning an expansion. The Group, with more than 5,000 employees and 22 companies across seven cities, is now acting on it.

Seven small adjoining shops, sit within the demolition plan. According to their tenants, they had already vacated after being notified of the planned teardown. The usually busy stretch has fallen quiet, though the main property is still operating for now.

BK Group plans to expand the 4,000Sqm property into a “modern complex” covering 5,500sqm. It first proposed a 63-storey tower, then began revising the design to fit the surrounding financial district. The Group’s management has declined to disclose the new plan.

Construction will fall to BK General Contractor, the Group's Grade One construction firm. The existing ground-plus-five-storey property has 109 rooms and employs nearly 140 people across three shifts.

Management gathered the staff earlier this month. According to an employee, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his job, senior managers told them the building would come down soon. However, they were instructed to keep working until the last day.

Another employee gave the same account, adding that the Group had promised there would be no layoffs. Staff would be reassigned, first to the second Ethiopia Hotel on Debre Zeit Road, then, depending on their qualifications and experience, to other hotels or companies within the Group.

BK Group operates the second Ethiopia Hotel and the Adama Ras Hotel in Adama (Nazareth) City, in the Oromia Regional State, along with the Bahir Dar Hilton Resort & Spa in Amhara Regional State. It recently opened Logo Hayk Resort in South Wollo Zone.

Behind Ethiopia Hotel stood the Bego Adragot Building, listed as a heritage site by the Culture & Tourism Bureau of Qirqos District since 2019. Built during the Italian occupation in the 1930s, it housed businesses for decades, among them Shi Solomon Supermarket, Lion Bar, Yohanis Jewellery and Picnic Basket Restaurant. The Federal Housing Corporation owned it.

Since the dispute with BK Group began, many tenants, some paying up to 70,000 Br a month, have closed and moved on.

The Hotel's own story runs deeper than its walls. It was built when Addis Abeba was preparing to host the first major continental meeting of leaders whose countries were emerging from colonialism. Several others were still reeling under colonial occupation, hence the rationale for founding the OAU. The city was not equipped with a sufficient number of hotels and rooms to accommodate its prominent and distinguished guests.

Officials scrambled to house the delegates, pressing ministry offices, guesthouses and even private homes into service. The city's mainstays of the day, Taitu and Ghion Imperial hotels, carried much of the load, yet the shortage remained a concern for organisers.

The site had first been earmarked for an apartment complex. After the developer, Abba Ire (Bejironde), won permission to change the plan, it was chosen for a hotel instead. A Norwegian firm, Nor Consultant, and a Greek builder, Magliaries, were brought in, according to Sophie Getaneh, whose forthcoming book, “An Unfulfilled Dream”, tells the life of her father, Getaneh Worku, the Hotel's project manager.