Five of Joburg's landmark buildings will go under the hammer this week part of the biggest off-loading of property in South African history.

Topping the list are the R200-million 25-storey Kine Centre in Commissioner Street next to the Carlton Centre skyscraper and the R180-million 31-storey Trust Bank Building in Eloff Street.

Owned by Sanlam Property Asset Management, the property arm of investment giant Sanlam, the buildings are expected to fetch about R10-million each when they are auctioned on Wednesday.

Sanlams decision to get rid of the two massive buildings along with another four in Gauteng, two in the Eastern Cape and one in Mpumalanga has been hailed as a major opportunity for smaller investors to buy into the anticipated downtown property boom.

Neil Fraser, executive director of the Central Johannesburg Partnership, a joint project between business and the local authorities, said the auction was a positive move that would spur the revitalisation of the inner city.

Over the past two years, there has been quite a shift in ownership already with a lot of smaller owners picking up buildings, and even bigger organisations expanding their property portfolios, he said.

Together, the nine buildings represent about R1-billion of Sanlams R11-billion property portfolio.

The Kine Centres anchor tenant was Ster-Kinekors seven-cinema complex. With a letting area of 37000m, connected to the Carlton Centre by a pedestrian tunnel filled with shops, it was once a prestigious address.

But about 18 months ago, Ster-Kinekor shut its doors and today only 17 small shops remain open on the ground level and a few in the tunnel.

The Trust Bank building on Eloff Street, with 28000m of space available for letting, a floor of shops and a state-of-the art security system, is standing empty today.

Banus van der Walt, managing director of Sanlam Property Asset Management, said the company felt their returns on the buildings had outperformed their expectations and that it was now time to move. Weve written the values down to about a tenth of what they were 10 years ago. We can use our money better, he said.

But Sanlam was sensitive to suggestions that this move amounted to a vote of no-confidence in plans for inner-city renewal.

Van der Walt said that although Sanlam was not interested in the swing towards smaller, residentially oriented property development, he believed that those who invested in Sanlams old properties would achieve good returns.

The company is retaining other city properties such as the R400-million Braampark on the ridge that houses the Constitutional Court as well as the R700-million Sanlam Centre downtown that has Absa as its key tenant.

Van der Walt said Sanlam was moving away from fixed investments and towards greater liquidity, in line with shareholder and policy holder demands but in doing so, opening the property market to smaller, emerging investors and developers.

I believe if youve got enough guts and if you really believe in the future of Joburg, this is absolutely the opportunity to buy for a nominal percentage of the replacement values of these buildings and you can make a fortune, he said.

Other inner city players agreed, saying the auction would mark the start of the turnaround for investment in the city, a process that began when Transnet bought and refurbished the Carlton Centre now full of paying tenants.

Tshepo Nkosi, the marketing manager of the Johannesburg Development Agency, said there was a massive demand for accommodation in the city, from low-income housing to expensive penthouse and loft apartments.

Wed recommend to the new owners that they try to consider conversion to residential, even though it is a capital-intensive exercise.

But Fraser said it would be better to retain the Kine Centre and Trust Bank building as commercial and business premises and to develop accommodation around the southern and western periphery of the city.

James Dall, of Aucor, said the response to adverts for the auctions had been far bigger than expected, mostly inquiries from new corporations and developers. No known slumlords had made approaches.

New ideas and new blood are needed, he said.

Leila McKenna, executive director of the Joburg Property Company, the citys property arm, said Sanlams release of so much property onto the market would boost public confidence in city redevelopment and dovetailed well with the Joburg Metros plan to auction off properties that had huge rates debts.

Other properties up for grabs:

The Randburg Metro Centre, on the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, with 14 floors and 7300m lettable space, currently divided into offices, shops, a restaurant and a nightclub and valued by the municipality at R15-million;

The Geldenhuys Building, on the corner of Jorissen and De Beer streets, Braamfontein, with 10 floors of partially-let offices;

The Roodepoort retail, banking and office block, on the corner of Van Wyk and Joubert streets, with five floors and 10000m of lettable space; and

The former OK Bazaars building in Vanderbijlpark, on the corner of President and CR Swart streets, with 13500m of lettable space.

In addition, Aucor will auction Phalo House South in Bisho in the Eastern Cape on March 3, the North End Trust Bank Centre in Port Elizabeth the following day and a retail and office centre in Barberton on March 7.

Sunday Times