THABANG MOKOPANELE

Property Correspondent

PROPERTY development and investment company Edge Properties has sold its commercial office development, the Inner Circle, to China’s Sinosteel Corporation for R500m.

The 10-storey Inner Circle property features 20287m² of AAA-grade commercial office space and seven basement parking levels. Construction of the property began in August 2007, and the completion date is scheduled for July.

“Inner Circle new owner Sinosteel will occupy the building, and a delegation from Beijing and Hong Kong arrive on Monday (today) to visit the site, and inspect their latest acquisition,” Lawrence Azar, Edge Properties’ business development manager, said on Friday.

Edge Properties’ latest project in Sunninghill includes the Falcons Crest development, on the corner of Witkoppen and Rivonia roads. It will feature a four-star, 200-bed hotel and two commercial office blocks with a gross lettable area of 8400m², and has a projected development value in excess of R450m.

In Cape Town, the company is developing Roggebaai Square — a 50m high, R300m development that will offer 10400m² of commercial office space, 1000m² of retail, and a parkade offering 500 bays.

The company is also rezoning land at the junction of the N1 and N2 motorways to create a new precinct, extending Cape Town’s Foreshore with approximately eight city blocks designed for mixed use, with upmarket offices, retail, hotel and residential properties.

Construction also begins this month on the company’s Intaba project, in the new Roggebaai foreshore precinct adjacent to the V&A Waterfront. Valued at R800m, the development will consist of a three-star plus business hotel with 195 rooms, 70 waterfront apartments, and approximately 6000m² for office space, and 1750m² of retail medical suites, restaurants and showrooms. Completion of the project is scheduled for November next year.

Sinosteel operates 76 subsidiaries in global markets and China, and is China’s second-largest importer of iron ore. “Sinosteel has made huge investments into SA, with this building transaction manifesting their confidence in the country amidst the current financial situation,” Fengzhi Nan, the MD of Sinosteel SA, said.

“We believe this to be a landmark deal given the current market conditions for real estate. On a positive note, emerging markets now account for 22% of global investment in commercial real estate, when recently they accounted for only 9%,” he said.

According to the Cushman & Wakefield Investment Atlas 2009, global investment in commercial property fell by 59% last year to $435bn, down from 2007’s record total of $1050bn.

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Source: Business Day