Vacancies throughout the entire 90 000 m2 of office space at Melrose Arch rank below 6%.
A new level of decisiveness has entered the office rental market in 2010 says Mark Uhlmann, sales manager for Cape-based Amdec Property Development.
Office tenancies continue at strong levels in Johannesburg’s prestigious Melrose Arch, of which Amdec is a co-owner and the development manager, , with over 85 000 m2 of offices let.
Vacancies throughout the entire 90 000 m2 of office space at Melrose Arch rank below 6%, comparing favourably to the Sapoa Office Vacancy Survey for the fourth quarter of 2009, which pegs vacancies at 10.4% in the Melrose/Waverley node and 9.5% in Sandton and surrounds.
Despite bringing an expansive 30 000 m2 of prime-grade commercial space to the market in the second quarter of 2009 – one of South Africa’s most challenging times economically – virtually all this space has been taken up. Some 8 000 m2 of space was signed up from December 1 2009 alone.
“Any new requests for larger tenancies will have to be accommodated in future phases of the development,” says Uhlmann.
“Although interest in the offices at Melrose Arch never waned, the decision making process was notably more measured for many companies during the economic uncertainty of the previous year,” says Uhlmann. “This year seems to have brought with it clarity of direction and, as a result, an upswing in leasing activity. There is also a tolerance of higher rentals with some of the pressure experienced in 2009 coming off.
Melrose Arch is about 50% developed and further office, retail and residential space are on the cards for future phases of this mixed-used precinct.
Already respected as one of the most prestigious business addresses in South Africa, this new office space has attracted tenants like local and international corporate heavyweights TWP Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Accor Services, Royal Bafokeng Holdings, Allan Gray, Bidvest, Xstrata Coal and Xstrata Alloys, Coronation Fund Managers, Mondi, ARUP and Stanlib.
Melrose Arch’s new-urban offering – with shops, restaurants, coffee shops, banks, hotels and gyms as well as apartments and penthouses all in a safe, fully-fledged pedestrianised precinct – underpins the appeal of Melrose Arch as a modern business precinct, especially for companies that host international clients, Uhlmann says.
