Interview with Derek Greenberg

Growthpoint Properties has acquired the Investec Sandton head office at 100 Grayston Drive and Investec's Cape Town foreshore building, as well as the use of 580 parking bays at Merchant Place Parkade, for a total consideration of R975 million.

Construction chemicals are increasingly playing major roles in the construction of commercial and industrial property.

The City (of Johannesburg) auctioned off a prime site situated on Comartie Road in Hurlingham, near Sandton, for a whopping R23,9m, double its reserve price of R10,3m.

THE CITY OF THE FUTURE

A proposal by the Gauteng Superhighways Consortium to extend the Ben Schoeman Highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria has been put on hold by the National Roads Agency while more studies are undertaken to determine the feasibility of some of the routes.

THE year past was a tough one for the South African property sector but, with the recent strengthening of the rand and the likely four percentage point drop in interest rates before the end of 2003, the bull run in Cape property, halted in November 2001 when the rand began its downward spiral, is now again gaining momentum.

Paramount Property Fund (Paraprop) has announced the acquisition of 13 commercial properties to the value of R161 million.

Listed property group Primegro has finalized an agreement to acquire the retail property portfolio of Richway for 1.175 billion rand in one of the country's biggest property deals, the company announced on Friday. The transfers are expected to be registered immediately in Primegro's favor, excluding Long Beach, bringing the value of its property portfolio to 2.34 billion rand.

CAPE TOWN Don Group directors Marc Wainer and Sidney Ellerine have come to the aid of the cash-strapped suite hotel group by buying and leasing back to it six properties via a vehicle called Ellwain Investments.