[Test] - The Week in Property (26th of July 2024)

Nestled among historical buildings in Hillbrow, Joburg, is the iconic Safari Hotel that is going on auction on the 13th of August 2024 at the Houghton Golf Club via Aucor Property.

The building, which towers over the Berea Fire Station, comprises ten fully let retail stores and 293 residential units and it is NSFAS accredited for 550 beds.

Two new lifts were recently installed indicating the owner’s commitment to patrons in keeping the building fully operational.

The 495m2 piece of vacant land directly across the road is zoned for ground floor retail and 72 units. The property also has a borehole.

Also going on auction through Aucor Property is the 229-apartment block on 155 Banket Street. The block’s 45 bachelor units, six one-bedroom units, and seven rooms are seldom not occupied.

These landmark buildings are located within Johannesburg’s inner city on the north end of Berea / Hillbrow, just a few 100m off Willie Street and Louis Botha Avenue.

For more information on these properties, contact Sean Parsons at Aucor Property.

WhatsApp Sean Parsons

In other news, the JSE All Property Index closed at 8 838 last night.

SA’s listed property sector is back on investors’ radars according to Rode & Associates’ latest ‘State of SA’s Property Market’ Report. During Q2 2024, office space recorded a modest recovery with the average vacancy rate of grades A+, A, and B office space, combined in decentralised nodes, 13.1% - down from 13.9% in Q1 2024. Cape Town and Durban’s vacancy rates improved further while Joburg’s vacancy rates were comparatively higher than these cities but still showed improvements over the past few quarters.

The industrial sector continues to boast sharp nominal rental growth amid continued low vacancies with nominal gross market rentals of 500m2 increasing by 6.1% year-on-year, up from 4.8% in Q1 2024. Rentals were approximately 20% higher compared to pre-Covid-19 (2019) with Central Witwatersrand and the East Rand witnessing the fastest rental growth of 6.8%.

The City of Cape Town is proposing amendments and new provisions to its Municipal Planning By-Law as part of its five-year review. These include new additions under Section 122 that will allow the municipality to revoke or amend an approval or a building plan approval; to approve a replacement building, and to regularise a contravention without the need for judicial review. The built environment is encouraged to comment before the 23rd of September 2024.

Balwin Properties is expanding its rental portfolio with a development pipeline of up to 7 300 apartments over the next ten years. Land parcels for the first six built-to-rent developments have been identified in Joburg East, Tshwane East, and the Western Cape. The one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments will target the R6 000 to R13 000 rental market.

Fairvest Limited boasts SA’s first solar facade skyscraper, Metalbox, in Auckland Park, Joburg. Commissioned by Energy Partners, the solar installation features building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) that generate up to 300MWh annually, incorporating two solar systems with monocrystalline panels situated on the sides of the building. The building. which stands 80m tall with just under 15 000m² of GLA, is one of the property fund’s largest commercial office assets.

Equites Property Fund will exit from the Equites Newlands Group development platform for a total consideration of £10m. The unconditional transaction, which will occur in a series of steps, is a significant move in reducing its capital allocation to developments in the UK.

PPC has entered a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Chinese engineering and construction company, Sinoma Overseas Development Corporation, as part of its turnaround process. The companies will work together on improving PPC’s efficiencies, modernise its technology, reduce production costs, accelerate its transition to alternative non-fossil fuels, and to expand its operation capacities in SA, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.