The serviced office space concept, being brought to Melrose Arch by Amukela Business Centre, will offer triple-A grade suites, a range of virtual office services and on-tap staff resources.

“The demand for space at Melrose Arch continues unabated and we will be able to meet this need with 31,000m2 of lettable office space which will come on line with the completion of Offices on the Piazza in 2009,” says Mark Uhlmann, Sales Manager for Melrose Arch Development Company.

These offices will be set above the 28,000m2 of Melrose Arch Shopping in seven separate highly individualised buildings. To date 12,800m2 of this space is already let with a substantial portion under negotiation.

The choice of location, says Bryan Wijsman of Amukela, was a no-brainer. Amukela has opted to locate at Melrose Arch for a very specific reason: the node is simply a top commercial address in SA.
 
"Being a mixed-use node offering a mixed-use environment, Melrose Arch is ideal," he says, pointing to the node's exceptional access and desirable live-work-play character.
 
Enhancing Melrose Arch’s status as a highly sought-after office location is its highly visible and easily accessible location, served by both the Atholl-Oaklands Road and the Corlett Drive off-ramp from the M1 highway.

In addition the complete lifestyle package offered by Melrose Arch, with shops, restaurants, coffee shops, banks, hotels and gyms as well as apartments and penthouses, adds to the modern business and social appeal of the precinct.

"Our suites will prove beneficial to smaller companies seeking accessible offices in the precinct," says Wijsman and will complement the many larger corporate head offices located in the precinct.

“This will allow smaller companies access to the prestigious Melrose Arch location where they will operate as neighbours to iconic blue chip companies the likes of Allan Gray, Bidvest, Bond Exchange of SA, Stanlib and Xstrata Coal and Xstrata Alloys,” says Uhlmann.
 
Amukela will offer both furnished and unfurnished office space, plus centralized staff resources and technological infrastructure that allows small businesses to set up shop quickly and efficiently.
 
"This is an opportunity for us to encourage small business growth by providing the resources and infrastructure that help reduce a business's overall capital outlay and provides them with greater flexibility," points out Wijsman.
 
It's also a model that has proven itself in cities across the globe.
 
Amukela has concluded an agreement with Alliance Business Centres, a network of executive suites, virtual offices and business centres with 600 locations in 36 countries.
 
"We have finalised a regional licencing agreement for SA that will see us bringing Alliance's reputation for world-class workplace solutions and business services right into Melrose Arch," explains Wijsman.
 
The centre will open its doors for business in April 2009 at 44 Melrose Boulevard on the corner of Crescent Drive.