ROODEPOORT is booming with residential units and small commercial properties mushrooming in the area, particularly along Hendrik Potgieter Road.

It appears that one of the big drivers for the development of townhouses, car dealerships and service stations is the recently completed R500m regional Clearwater shopping centre at the junction of Christiaan de Wet and Hendrik Potgieter and a burgeoning population.

Pace Property Group MD David Green says there has been a surge in residential development which has been primarily focused on the Afrikaansspeaking community, and this has led to the demand for space.

One of the biggest drivers has been the development of the Clearwater shopping centre.

"Clearwater is going to be a regional shopping centre and this is attracting periphery retailers who follow regional retail centre developments," says Green.

Explaining the burgeoning small commercial property market, he says many national tenants prefer also to own the properties they occupy or require lower rentals than they can get inside a shopping mall.

Green says that, for instance, a motor fitment shop wants to be close to where all the commercial action is but cannot be accommodated in Clearwater because it would not be able to afford the high rentals.

Value retail outlets retailers who occupy factory space or light industrial space would have to follow a similar pattern.

Green says residential space has also boomed in Roodepoort.

"It's a new node which is establishing itself and the population is growing by 10% an annum."

Property economist Francois Viruly, of Viruly Consulting, says that for many people entering the property market, Roodepoort offers opportunities. He also says that Roodepoort is the first port of call for people leaving Soweto.

Developer Pat Flanagan says that there needs to be a degree of concern about developing commercial properties along arterial roads such as Hendrik Potgieter and Ontdekkers roads.

There are a lot of small erven and developers are buying up the smaller plots and building motor showrooms and other small commercial developments, says Flanagan.

He says the proliferation of small industrial developments creates a degree of fragmentation rather than consolidated, holistic development.

"We are ending up with typical strips along these arterial roads, which are, in my view, compounding traffic problems and may well see a degree of decay taking place in five to 10 years."

From a commercial point of view, Flanagan's concern is that many of these new developments are motor-driven and he questions whether the area can actually sustain all these small commercial developments.

"I think there is a lot of response to market demand, which gratifies the objectives of the developer, but the longer term sustainability from a real estate point of view is where the risk must lie," he says.

As for residential development in the Roodepoort area, Flanagan says if new units are being sold to owner/occupiers that indicates a sound property market.

But if the bulk of sales are to investors who are seeking to rent the properties out, he says, there would be risk as the rental market is under pressure.

Flanagan says that there are three areas of major growth in Johannesburg with the district around Hendrik Potgieter and Little Falls in Roodepoort being one of them.

The second is in the northwest part of Johannesburg in places such as North Riding and Honeydew. The third area is to the northwest of Fourways.