A CONSORTIUM consisting of Zenprop Property Holdings and Cape Town property player Theodore Yach has acquired a Cape Town office and retail property portfolio in a R300m deal.

The deal involved three properties situated in Cape Town’s central business district (CBD) including 1 Thibault Square, the largest office building in Cape Town, said Yach. Zenprop joint CEO Rodney Weinstein said Cape Town was the second-largest city in the country and was showing growth.

“The CBD has come a long way. There is an improvement district, and management systems are in place and we see the city having a lot of upside potential,” said Weinstein. Yach said 1 Thibault Square had a gross lettable area of 31000m². The vacancy level in the building was small, with “literally only a couple of hundred square metre vacancies”.

Yach said 1 Thibault Square was adjacent to the new financial district in Cape Town and opposite Investec’s head office. He invested only in and developed properties in the “centre of Cape Town”, he said.

Two other properties included Constitution House, on the corner of Adderley and Church streets, and 101 St Georges Mall, adjacent to Constitution House. The office vacancy level in the retail and office mix of these two buildings is about 3000m².

“We are going to be redeveloping the retail component completely and we are going to be creating about 6000m² of new retail,” said Yach. Constitution House and 101 St Georges Mall occupied a central position in the “heart of the historic old city, which is currently enjoying R2bn of investment and development”.

The two properties are adjacent to Mandela Rhodes Place, the premier new residential development in Cape Town. The construction of the new five-star Taj Hotel, which is also situated in the vicinity, is due to start shortly.

All three buildings were acquired from Dieter Bock, who held the three properties for many years. “We signed all the paperwork in June and the transfer (of the properties) went ahead at the end of last month,” he said.

Avin Lieberman, joint CEO of Zenprop, said all three properties represented “great long-term, sustainable value”. “We are very happy with the quality of the tenant mix at 1 Thibault Square, and with the development potential that Constitution House and 101 St Georges Mall represent,” Lieberman said.

Publisher: Business Day
Source: Nick Wilson