Chevron SA to build new ‘green’ headquarters at Century City

Chevron South Africa has bought a gateway site at Century City from the Rabie Property Group, where it is to build a new 9 000 m2 green head office. The building is being designed by Louis Karol Architects who competed … Continue reading →

Park Lane developers to invest further R10 million after 75% presales

Seventy-five percent of the units have been sold in the first two buildings at Park Lane Office Park, Horizon Capital’s new office development in Century City, and the developer has decided to invest a further R10 million to satisfy the … Continue reading →

Who’s liable for your leaking roof?

You buy your dream house, you settle in, all’s well. Until it rains, and the roof starts leaking. Who’s liable? The law, and the limits to voetstoots First, determine whether the leak problem is a latent defect, i.e. one that … Continue reading →

Phase two of the industrial precinct in Montague Park in Milnerton, Cape Town set to launch

The new industrial warehouse development in Montague Park, Milnerton, Cape Town

Following on from the hugely successful launch of the new Makro store in the retail precinct of Montague Park, the large mixed-use development on the corner of Koeberg Road and Plattekloof Road in Milnerton, the second phase of the industrial precinct is about to be launched by the developers.

The first phase of the industrial precinct is almost finished with three tenants about to take occupation of the large industrial units. There are only two units still available to rent.

The industrial units tick all the boxes of what is required by modern distribution and warehousing companies; high eaves for racking, generous yard space, large turning circles for interlink trucks, undercover loading facilities and sprinklers.

Units in phase two of the industrial precinct will range in size from 1250m2. There is currently a 4000m2 unit and a 2000m2 unit available to rent in phase one.

There is 143 000m2 of industrial development allowed in the industrial precinct of Montague Park and warehouse and office facilities as large as 60 000 m2 can be catered for.

There is a large availability of power for heavy powers users should it be required.

The park is monitored by CCTV and there are manned gatehouse access controls  to the industrial precinct.

For more information on industrial letting opportunities in Montague Park, please contact either Rob Ryll (082 774 2662), Jonty de la Porte ( 082 650 3322) or our office on 021 551 9777.

One of a kind industrial warehouse sold and then let in Montague Gardens

Rob Ryll outside the industrial warehouse in Jig Avenue Montague Gardens which he recently sold .

Rob Ryll of De La Porte Property Group recently sold a prime industrial property in Montague Gardens to a private investor. The property consisted of a 900 m2 warehouse building on a 2000 m2 piece of land

Although the property was sold with without a tenant in place, the investor had the foresight to realise that industrial properties in Montague Gardens, such as this one, don’t often come on to the market; so he had the confidence to take an educated risk and invest in a building with no income stream.  The investor was also prepared to pay a good price for the property because of its scarcity and because it had all the right attributes.

The fact that the building is able to satisfy a number of industrial uses meant that Rob Ryll was able to find a national, blue chip tenant for the building within a month of the transaction date and before transfer was given to the new owner.

The building has a loading ramp, more than one roller shutter door, a good floor to roof height and a large concrete yard.

De La Porte Property Group has recently sold a number of prime industrial buildings to investors who were prepared to buy them without tenants in place, purely because they saw the intrinsic quality and value of the building rather than being narrowly focusing on the initial yield that the investment showed.

Investors who are only prepared to buy buildings with tenants in place and on high initial yields have found that in a number of instances they have missed out on purchasing quality buildings that have been sold and then tenanted in short order.

Despite the perceived market sentiment, we were instrumental in a number of sales last year and our success seems to have carried on to 2012.

For more information, please contact Rob Ryll of  De La Porte Property Group on either 021 551 9777, 082 374 2662 or rob@delaporte.co.za

Commercial Property Prospects for 2012: FNB

Signs of economic weakness and rising vacancies suggest a flat commercial property year in 2012 Recently, FNB’s All Commercial Property Performance Indices have started to point to weakening performance ahead. The 3rd quarter did see some rise in the All … Continue reading →

Fight over seized wine farm heats up

Billionaire Wendy Appelbaum is lodging a formal complaint against top auctioneer Rael Levitt at the National Consumer Commission as the fight over a prime Cape wine estate turns nasty. Appelbaum bid R55-million for Dave King’s 194-hectare Quoin Rock estate outside … Continue reading →

State employees now own stakes in top malls in SA

PIC purchases two property companies that give government employees stakes in some shopping centres THE Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has bought two property companies that give government employees and retired public servants stakes in some of SA’s premium shopping centres. … Continue reading →

Pending Constitutional Court decision could hamper upgrading of urban residential stock

Investment property owners, especially landlords of low cost residential property in high density urban areas, are awaiting the outcome of a trial in the Constitutional Court with some trepidation. Gunstons Attorneys’ commercial director, Trudie Broekmann, says this is likely to … Continue reading →

The pitfalls of Sars’s tax amnesty for properties

  Transferring your property into your own name could change the interest on you bond. JOHANNESBURG  – Those planning to take advantage of the South African Revenue Service’s (Sars’s) amnesty to transfer their primary residence from a company, trust or … Continue reading →

2012 commercial property market outlook very cautious

The prospects for the commercial property sector for 2012 are definitely a lot more promising than 2011. “In a very short time frame, we are already seeing an uptick in enquiries in both the office and industrial sectors of the … Continue reading →

Green hotel for Cape Town Airport

Domestic and international travellers to Cape Town International Airport will soon be able to check into what will be the greenest hotel on the continent. Currently in the final stages of approval, the luxury hotel in Michigan Street, less than … Continue reading →

Revised sectional title rules for levies and budgets

One of the recent amendments to the prescribed management rules made under the Sectional Titles Act has not generated the debate that I thought it should have.

The rule in question is PMR 36 (1), which now reads as follows:

36. (1) Prior to the commencement of every financial year of the body corporate, the trustees shall cause to be prepared an itemised estimate of the anticipated income and expenses of the body corporate for the ensuing financial year, which estimate shall be laid before the annual general meeting for consideration in terms of rule 56 hereof.

The old rule 3. (1) read as follows:

36. (1) Before every annual general meeting, the trustees shall cause to be prepared an itemized estimate of the anticipated income and expenses of the body corporate during the ensuing financial year, which estimate shall be laid before the annual general meeting for consideration in terms of rule 56 hereof.

It would seem then that the budget must now be prepared and be in the format that would be submitted to the annual general meeting for consideration prior to the start of the financial year; so where a scheme has a February 2013 financial year end, this would suggest that the budget must be prepared prior to March 2012.

This, read in conjunction with PMR 31(4A), would suggest that the intention is to make certain that trustees are given the tools to ensure that the scheme has the financial resources to run effectively:

31 (4A) After the expiry of a financial year and until they become liable for contributions in respect of the ensuing financial year, owners are liable for contributions in the same amounts and payable in the same instalments as were due and payable by them during the expired financial year: provided that the trustees may, if they consider it necessary and by written notice to the owners, increase the contributions due by the owners by a maximum of 10 per cent to take account of the anticipated increased liabilities of the body corporate. 

Yet another amendment – the insertion of a new rule, PMR 31(2A) – further strengthens this view. The newly inserted rule reads as follows:

31(2A) Where the financial year-end and the annual general meeting of a body corporate do not coincide, the budget shall coincide with the financial year of the scheme.

This may seem obvious, but over time, and to cater for the need to have the budget approved at annual general meetings, a practice started to develop where budget years ran from one month just after the anticipated annual general meeting. Taking our earlier March to February example; if the annual general meeting was planned for June, to be within the four-month requirement, the budget year would become July to June. The above amendment has now made it clear that this approach is wrong.

It has long been a recognised need in sectional title financial practice to have the levies set at the level necessary to meet the operating and financial needs of the body corporate, for the budget year and financial year to be the same and the new levies to be in place from day one. The above now gives effect to this, unless the new levy is more than 10% higher than the previous year’s levy. Even this should be looked at; trustees are elected to run the scheme and have the power of raising special levies – why not the power to set the levy from day one, irrespective of the required increase? The annual general meeting agenda item can still remain and allow the owners a form of oversight where necessary.

The trustees stand in a fiduciary relationship to the body corporate and so their actions must be in the best interest of the scheme. Where this is proved not to be the case, they can be held to account, so the risk to section owners is minimal and the benefit to the scheme great, as the trustees have one of the most important tools to run the scheme effectively.

Article reference: Paddocks Press: Volume 6, Issue 12, Page 2 http://www.paddocks.co.za

Clint Riddin of Clint Riddin & Associates is a sectional title accountant specialised in accounting, income tax and secretarial services to bodies corporate.

Moderately growing industrial property rentals displaying slack demand

Disappointing for the demand prospects of industrial property must have been the recent moderation in economic activity.

The graph that follows shows the robust inverse relationship between industrial property vacancies and current economic conditions, as proxied by the South African composite coincident business-cycle indicator. (The coincident business-cycle indicator is a broad-based measure of current economic conditions, helping economists and investors to analyze the business cycle.)

We note that during the tentative economic upswing that started in the latter half of 2009, industrial vacancies didn’t come down, thereby (temporarily) discontinuing the strong inverse relationship with economic activity (see shaded area of graph). The loss of confidence among economic actors and the then strong rand are possible explanations for this.

The cooling in economic growth during the third quarter of 2011 and the persistent uncertainty in the global economy have now prompted a growing number of economists to scale down their outlook for the economy. Thus, should economic activity actually continue to stutter and possibly further dent confidence amongst economic actors, the result could – no, would – be sustained feeble demand for industrial space. Naturally, this would in turn not augur well for industrial market rentals.

Meanwhile, slack in the demand for industrial space is already being displayed by the poor to moderate growth in market rentals. In the third quarter of 2011, market rentals on the Central Witwatersrand and in Durban mustered growth of 5% − the best regional performance. The Cape Peninsula followed with growth of 4%, while in Port Elizabeth market rentals were actually somewhat lower (-1%) than they were a year ago.

For more information, please contact John Lottering on 083 602 5522 or visit www.rode.co.za.

Source: http://www.rode.co.za/news/article.php?ID=2281

 

Don’t go green with envy by not opting to rent a green building

Landlords who invest in green buildings might be able to lure a higher calibre of tenant – and should have a far higher occupancy level than landlords selling space in non-green buildings. Landlords who invest in green buildings might be … Continue reading →

Switching agents could lead to double commission

A landmark judgment handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal in September holds a stark warning for sellers on potential liability for full commission to multiple agencies in a transaction, according to Seeff Atlantic Seaboard managing director, Ian Slot. … Continue reading →

New Blouberg development launched

The last decade has shown that, whether the economic conditions are buoyant or depressed, well-designed new apartment complexes on or close to the beachfront at Bloubergstrand will always attract buyers and tenants, according to Michael Abrahamse, franchise principal for Rawson … Continue reading →

8 000 m² shopping centre for Elsie’s River

The first new sizeable shopping centre to be built in the Western Cape for the past three years is 75 percent complete and set to open in April – and developer MSP plans to follow this with two more. Construction … Continue reading →

New light on old considerations when choosing to rent a business premises

Making the right choice when it comes to leasing commercial or industrial premises can be tough, especially when you consider that your premises can impact your business in more ways than you may think. Grant Lewington, Business Development Executive at … Continue reading →

Fairvest In Cape

FAIRVEST Property, the listed real estate company that is headquartered in Central Cape Town, strangely holds no significant investments in the city. What’s more, the property managers, Blend Property, who are responsible for managing Fairvest’s portfolio are also based in Cape Town. … Continue reading →