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Fortress welcomes Vodacom tenancy at Louwlardia Logistics Park

An aerial view of the LouwLardia Logistics Park in Centurion.
An aerial view of the LouwLardia Logistics Park in Centurion.

Fortress REIT Limited has secured Vodacom as major tenant at its Louwlardia Logistics Park development in Centurion. The lease has been signed for a period of five-years.

Vodacom will take occupancy of a brand new 17 000 square meter warehouse at Louwlardia on the 1st of November 2018 to use as a central storage facility for the equipment used to support and maintain its mobile network. The warehouse has a 15 meter eaves height and an ultra-flat FM2 floor which provides the ideal platform for smooth and efficient movement of mechanised logistics machinery as well as Vodacom’s substantial racking needs.

Nico Prinsloo, Development Manager at Fortress comments:

“It’s certainly a major accolade to have secured a blue chip tenant of Vodacom’s stature and proves to us that our investment in the Louwlardia facility was an astute move … We’ve managed to secure Vodacom for a period of five years with an option to renew for a further five years if they are satisfied with the site, which we are very confident will not only meet, but exceed, their expectations.”

Fortress purchased the 16.8 hectares Louwlardia site in 2015 and has since developed three large warehouses whilst still retaining space for a possible fourth development. These include a 33 000 square meter warehouse facility (currently used by Goldwagen), a 23 000 square meter facility (with We Buy Cars as a tenant) and the soon-to-be-completed warehouse to be occupied by Vodacom. Prinsloo says that the site still has enough vacant land to comfortably accommodate another 14 000 square meter facility, should Fortress decide to proceed with an additional warehouse development.

“One of the big attractions of the Louwlardia Logistics Park is its location in Centurion, which puts it right at the nexus of the highway network in central Gauteng and allows for quick and easy access to either Sandton, Johannesburg, Midrand, Pretoria or beyond,” said Prinsloo. “It is also located in a secure business park with perimeter fencing that is monitored by security and 24-hour access control, making it a particularly desirable location for corporates with large scale warehousing requirements.”

Fortress is currently developing six new logistics properties and one retail facility with a combined total gross lettable area (GLA) in excess of 154 000m2 at a cost of R1.5 billion, forming part of a deliberate strategy to expand its logistics-focused asset base to approximately two thirds of its total portfolio by 2020, a rebalancing process designed to capitalise on where it sees greater growth opportunities in the foreseeable future.