This includes newer areas such as Meadowdale and Jet Park, reports Lee Greyvenstein, leasing and sales broker for JHI property services group.

Greyvenstein has just concluded a transaction for the five year lease of 15 631sqm of industrial space, comprising mostly cold storage facilities and located in Lascelles Road in Meadowdale, on behalf of Stamford Sales - which is part of Mavelapanda Group Limited. This transaction, together with a number of other leases recently concluded by Greyvenstein, has a combined total capital value of R42 million.

“It is positive to note that many of the enquiries currently being received are from companies wishing to expand their operations. Among recent enquiries are those for 13 000sqm of space for a warehousing/distribution facility near OR Tambo and for 5 000-10 000sqm of industrial property to lease. Most of the bigger users tend to seek modern accommodation,” says Greyvenstein.

He says currently there is a lot more land around OR Tambo becoming available with the larger land users offering competitive rates for new builds. ACSA Properties have released a few new nodes around the airport for commercial, industrial and retail developments, and there’ve also been a number of buildings completed in the past 12 months.

“An industrial park has been completed and occupied, with another coming out of the ground. There is definitely growth in the area, with a number of smaller operators also looking for larger space. In addition, there are enquiries from companies presently located in more outlying areas, who are seeking a more central location,” says Greyvenstein.

“In Meadowdale we are also seeing smaller industrial space being taken up in the size range from 200-800sqm. Coupled with this we are also seeing the development of mini-units with a good uptake in the 300-800sqm size range in Hughes, an industrial area just off North Road, east of East Rand Mall and currently have one unit still available at a gross rental rate of R45 per square metre.

Greyvenstein says in Jet Park, situated between the R21 and N12 with easy access to all destinations, there has been an uptake in industrial vacancies in recent months, predominantly ranging from 300-1000sqm and mostly for warehousing and distribution facilities.

Currently JHI is marketing available industrial space in the above areas, predominantly around OR Tambo, varying in size between 250sqm and 11 700sqm and at gross rentals ranging from R30-R45 per square metre. “This is a very competitive particularly when compared with the going rate of approximately R60 per square metre for brand new developments,” adds Greyvenstein.