Emira Property Fund has concluded an agreement with Eris Property Group to acquire its proposed 14,000m Corobay Corner office development on the western edge of the greater Menlyn Main development in Pretoria.

This came after Emira announced last month that it had given the green light to its Podium at Menlyn development - a 16,000m A-Grade office project, which was to be developed in two phases and was likely to become the gateway to the fast-developing Menlyn commercial node.

CE James Templeton said the decision to purchase the property would enhance the company's profile in the sought-after Menlyn development node and give additional critical mass to its physical presence.

In addition, Emira had secured a 12-month rental guarantee from Eris for the remainder of the space from the date of completion. The purchase of the property was expected to yield a return of 9% for Emira.

Because of its ready access to cost-effective capital, Emira had struck an agreement with Eris to fund the development costs on the Corobay Corner project through the building phase rather than purchase the building outright on completion in July 2012.

In order to help fund the Podium and Corobay developments, Emira recently announced that it would be seeking to dispose of 16 underperforming properties in its portfolio.

The properties targeted for disposal were expected to yield about R690 million for Emira. Last year the fund raised about R80 million by disposing of six other properties in its portfolio that it had identified as non-core.