Growthpoint Properties, the largest real estate company in the country, has acquired a 13,870 square metre logistics property in Keystone Park in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal, for R136m, as the real estate investment trust (Reit) rebalances its industrial property portfolio.
Featuring efficient, modern, new-build specifications, JSE-listed Growthpoint’s latest industrial asset is let to specialised food packaging provider, Malda Pack, and butchery supplier, Exim International. The property transferred to Growthpoint in late December 2022.
“We are pleased to conclude this acquisition in a secure logistics park with good quality tenants and suitable infrastructure at a time when KZN and Cape Town are proving to be relatively more attractive business destinations than other regions,” said Errol Taylor, Growthpoint’s head of asset management for industrial properties.
“The acquisition furthers our goal to improve our asset base by developing and acquiring premium properties in high-demand industrial nodes,” he said.
Growthpoint’s diversified industrial portfolio of more than two million square metres in 180-plus buildings caters to all needs of the industrial community, with a strong presence in sought-after nodes in Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town.
Keystone Park is a 152-hectare secure logistics precinct situated at the Hammarsdale Interchange of the N3 highway. It is in a major hub for national distribution from the Durban Port with direct access to the main logistics corridor connecting Durban, Pietermaritzburg, the inland container port at Cato Ridge and Johannesburg. The quality and location of this logistics park have attracted other big names like Pepkor and Mr Price.
While this is Growthpoint’s first investment asset in Hammarsdale, Growthpoint’s industrial development team recently produced the award-winning property for Bakers Transport not far from Keystone Park.
Growthpoint also recently began the R180m development of Phase 2 of Trade Park, a prime industrial park in the Mount Edgecombe industrial precinct in KwaZulu-Natal, north of Durban. Trade Park is a midi-unit industrial park comprising two phases of some 20,300 square metres and 21,600 square metres respectively. The first phase was completed in 2019 and phase two broke ground at the end of January 2023. The second phase will introduce four new A-grade units ranging in size from 4,500 square metres to 6,500 square metres. The first units will be ready for occupation from October 2023.
“There is an overwhelming demand for, and a genuine scarcity of, quality A-grade warehouse facilities in the region. Growthpoint’s investment and development are responding to what business wants, which shows a confidence in and a preference for this region,”said Greg Worst, Growthpoint Properties’ regional head for KZN.
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