Nov 02 2005 12:00:00:000AM

By: Shaun Harris

IT'S BEING BILLED as the biggest ever commercial property auction, but it seems that there's more to the sale of The Wheel, the shopping centre off Durban's beachfront, than meets the eye.

Selling a shopping centre by auction is unusual. Norman Raad, head of the commercial property division of Auction Alliance, says that he's been involved in commercial auctions fetching R30m to R40m before "but nothing this big".

But why an auction? Attempts to contact the current owners of The Wheel, the Gani family from Pretoria, were unsuccessful. The man apparently responsible for running the family's property investments didn't reply to messages left on his voicemail. However, it seems that the auction might be a desperation sale to try and stave off legal action by Nedbank against other Gani family businesses and property interests.

One business, retail chain Shoe Crazy, has been liquidated. But Nedbank says that it's in dispute with the family concerning a number of other business interests, including The Wheel.

It now seems that the dispute will end up in court, Nedbank says, though a spokesman emphasised that the decision to auction The Wheel was "voluntary" and decided by the Gani family.

There's apparently no final figure for how much might be owed to Nedbank, but the bank doesn't dispute that it could run past R100m.

Two Gani family members also have a joint interest with Investec Bank in a property company, Strupot, which acquired a number of properties from the eThekwini (Durban) Municipality a few years ago. The properties were later sold to Pangbourne Properties. Apparently the Gani family owes no money to Investec.

Sanlam Properties launched The Wheel in 1989 as a R90m centre. Raad estimates the replacement value of The Wheel is now probably more than double that. "We expect to get well over R100m for it. It's a great opportunity: the redevelopment of Durban's Point area will see rentals at The Wheel increase by 100% to 150% and it's ideally placed to benefit from foreign tourists who stay at the hotels around the shopping centre."

The auction, on 10 November, will take place in Johannesburg and will be beamed by satellite to Durban, Cape Town and possibly London. Raad says that there's been interest from individuals and institutions, including property companies in SA and overseas investors.