“Development and planning of this industrial site began three years ago.  Essentially we got in early and secured the fundamentals of power and council services,” says Coenie Bezuidenhout of Atterbury Property, a joint developer in the project.

The multi phased project which is a joint venture with Pangbourne Properties, covers a total area of 75 ha.  Eighty percent of the land is sold out and services installed.  Installation of services to the final phase will be completed by September/October 2008.    Sixty percent of the sales in Phase IV have been achieved and the installation of services to this phase will be completed by August/September 2008.

Mr Price fashion and home retail outlet already occupies 40 000m² and a parcel of land within Phase IV has been reserved for an interested party.  Approximately 5 hectares of land in phase IV is currently being released into the market and judging by current demand is expected to be sold out soon. 

In December 2007 the well known Wesbank Raceway was closed down and demolition work of this structure is almost complete.  Two further tracts of land that lie adjacent to Phase 3 & 4 are being developed by separate developers. A conglomerate of players including two large joint ventures coupled with a minority shareholding by SAPRO, represents the one development of 42 ha which is Gosforth Park Extension 2.  The second tract of land, Gosforth Park Extension 5, covers 23 ha, and is owned by Turner Morris.
         
This combined business and industrial precinct measures a total of 150 hectares and is known as the Gosforth Business Precinct.  “Although all three  collectives are exclusively involved in the three separate individual developments, we consult and meet on a regular basis to ensure the smooth running of transforming this area into one of the country’s largest and most sought after industrial nodes,” says Bezuidenhout.

“We all have common goals and it therefore makes good business sense to further our individual strategies by operating as a team.  This way we eradicate duplication of resources, expenditure and we save time too,” concurs John Hardcourt-Cook of Turner Morris and Richard Curry of Proteus.

The location of Raceway Industrial Park is significant in that it is positioned close to Rand Airport and it borders major highways such as the N17, N12 and N3.  Because this area is served both by air and road networks, it is an extremely popular choice for small and medium business.
 
Atterbury and Pangbourne have been overwhelmed by the interest in this development and continue to cater to the needs of the market.  It is no secret that the availability of industrial space, with power and services, in South Africa is in short demand.  What started out as a 350 000m² development in 2006 has resulted in a project that has more than doubled in size since  inception.