With a gross lettable area of 7529sqm and anchored by Pick n Pay, this shopping centre in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape is on auction on 9 June through Broll Auctions and Sales.
Following the success of the first multiple auction held by Broll Auctions and Sales, a further auction of 24 prime commercial properties in diverse locations around South Africa is to be held at noon on Tuesday 9 June 2015 at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg.
“It is apparent that property remains an attractive investment for both investors and owner-occupiers, with bidders demonstrating a strong appetite for auction property. The retail sector is a case in point, having turned in a good performance over the past 10 years with annualised total returns for the past three, five and 10 years at 14.7 percent, 13.2 percent and 18.9 percent respectively (Source Broll Report),” says Norman Raad, CEO of Broll Auctions and Sales
“Although consumer spend in general remains under pressure due to rising costs and other constraining economic factors, this sector, together with manufacturing, continues to reflect resilience and growth, albeit somewhat more modest in the current climate.”
“In meeting such challenges, across the full spectrum of office, retail and industrial users there is a growing emphasis and prioritisation on improved cost management, reduced operating costs and energy savings. Location as always remains key, particularly for the burgeoning logistics sector of the market, which has come to the fore in recent years.”
The 24 properties to be auctioned are broad spread across various regions around South Africa, including a well positioned shopping centre in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, comprising a gross lettable (GLA) area of 7529sqm and with national tenants, including anchor tenant Pick n Pay. “A busy node which links East London and Port Elizabeth, Queenstown serves as the commercial, administrative and educational centre of the prosperous surrounding farming district,” says Raad.
In Govan Mbeki Street in the main hub of Port Elizabeth a tenanted, prime corner retail site comprising a GLA of 2731qm is another highlight of the auction, as well as a large industrial warehouse of 4610sqm – including four cranes – situated in Powerville in Vereeniging, and a mixed-use building comprising ground floor retail and apartments on a busy corner of Grant Avenue in Norwood, an attractive suburb bordering Houghton in Johannesburg.
Adds Raad: “Other properties on auction include tenanted industrial mini-units in good locations in Boksburg North on the East Rand, Wynberg and in Heriotdale in Johannesburg, a retail centre of 4373sqm in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal and warehousing with an office component in Kya Sands, an industrial area in Johannesburg.”
In Kew in Johannesburg, a property consisting of retail and warehousing is fully let to national retailer KFC, while in Springs a mixed-use retail and residential building of 1041sqm overlooks the main road with good exposure. Similarly, well situated on bustling Main Road in Wynberg in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs a historic, double-storey office building of 513sqm comes up for auction, and in Linden in Johannesburg – with good proximity to Northcliff and Parkhurst, two large office blocks comprising a total GLA of 1392sqm have become available.
The other properties represent a mix of retail, office and industrial space – even a cold storage facility in George on the Garden Route, in diverse locations such as Amalgam – just 10 minutes south of Johannesburg CBD, Edenburg in the Free State, Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, Croydon in Kempton Park, Boksburg on the rapidly growing East Rand, Polokwane in Limpopo province, Bronkhorstspruit east of Pretoria and en route to Witbank (eMalahleni), Napier in the Southern Cape and Lichtenburg in North West Province.
