Org Geldenhuys, managing director of property development and management company, Abacus DIVISONS, said while 2011 was an extremely difficult year for the commercial property market – with the effects of the 2008 recession finally taking its toll – there were a number of “emerging positive signs”.

Abacus DIVISIONS is the key property developer and marketer at Route 21 Corporate Park.

“While rentals have been under significant pressure, we are seeing an increased interest, overall, from businesses at large and are expecting rental contracts to increase from a price perspective during the latter part of this year,” said Geldenhuys.

He said that, to a large extent, Route 21 Corporate Park had “bucked the trend” and was one of the few office parks in the Centurion node still commanding “premium rental rates”.

“We had a number of interesting developments during the last year, including the development of a R60 million green-focused building- which is now almost fully let – and the development of a 4 200m2 head office/distribution facility which is the biggest of its kind in the office park.”

Leading technology company, Brother, also developed a new regional head office for South Africa and the neighbouring territories, with Geldenhuys saying that it is the park’s security infrastructure and location that is attracting prospective clients and owners.

“Buying and renting in a secure business environment is currently a huge trend that we will see continuing to grow as crime remains a significant worry in the South African landscape.”

Also marking a trend that might signal an improvement in rental vacancies in the Centurion business node, Abacus DIVISIONS has secured 10 new rental deals for the Highveld Techno Park office park, one of the growing number of office parks which are offering businesses “great value for money”.

Geldenhuys said there appears to be an “upsurge” in rental activity in the Centurion area, confirming that his company, during the past three months, had notched up ten new rental deals. “This may not sound like a lot, but we are coming off what was a very quiet period – especially in the Centurion area.”

He said his company had focused on an integrated and multi-pronged approach to marketing the Highveld Technopark properties, including the use of Abacus’ dedicated property search engine on the Internet, word of mouth, extensive social media marketing, billboards, online and printed media, and direct mail.

”We hope to reduce vacancies in the Highveld Technopark area even further, bringing it down to acceptable levels within the next three months. Highveld Technopark will definitely remain a focus area of our business.

“But we are definitely witnessing more of an interest in the Centurion business node – and this is arguably because of good value propositions being offered by many office parks in the area.”