Scheduled to begin this month, construction of the Falkirk Park development comes on the heels of rising demand for small industrial units geared to light engineering, which is usually linked to the shipping industry, logistics and warehousing. This is despite the rising interest-rate cycle and the pressure on building costs.

Nationally, the industrial property market has emerged from the doldrums into a boom promising sustainability and a long-term dedication to economic growth. The turnaround after the stagnation of the 1980s and 1990s highlights the failings of former government policies that encouraged institutional investors to develop industrial properties in peri-urban areas.

Shown to be unsustainable, these policies have undergone rethinking that has precipitated the development of new industrial parks or the revamping of established, but often neglected, buildings and complexes.

However, manufacturing and industrial processes have new needs in industrial property, with companies requiring smaller buildings in line with less space for stock and higher demand for just-in-time production runs.

The Bluff-based development involves revamping the single-storey building and adding another floor to bring 8000m² to the market. MaxProp consultant Pat Witherow said the initiative would provide industrial space for about R4600/m² against the R5500/m² rates being charged in established parks in the northern areas of Durban.

The new complex will have 11 units suitable for a variety of businesses, including light engineering, distribution centres and storage, and ranging in size from 400m² to 1300m².

Witherow said the building originally housed the Durban Falkirk Iron Company, a decades-old entity that brought the three-legged pot to the commercial market.