FNB Homeloans and asset finance company WesBank, both subsidiary companies of the FirstRand Group, will be moving to a new R1bn office development being undertaken by RMB Properties in Fairland, Johannesburg.
RMB Properties said on Wednesday that work was "progressing well" on the 74,000m? office development, which adjoins RMB's Worldwear Shopping Centre in Beyers Naude Drive, Fairland.
Work started in October 2005 and the three-storey office complex is set to be completed in April next year. FNB Homeloans and WesBank will be the only tenants.
RMB Properties marketing director Hugh Basel said the new development was "in essence two separate buildings with a communal facility in-between, joining the two buildings".
Basel said FNB Homeloans and WesBank were in Johannesburg's central business district and were outgrowing the premises.
The primary reason for the new development was to "get the business units together instead of having them spread around different properties".
Another factor for the decision to develop offices in Fairland was that a large portion of the businesses' staff lived in that area. Basel said the office complex had to be developed because there were no premises of that size in the Fairlands area.
MB Properties expects the office development will bring additional foot traffic to the shopping centre.
Property economist Erwin Rode, of Rode & Associates, said the office and shopping centre developments already provided a "critical mass and, together with their good access from the West Rand and other parts of Johannesburg, it seems a foregone conclusion that it will work".
Business Day
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge