Pretoria - Attacq, the listed capital-growth property company that is developing, owns and manages the Waterfall development in Midrand, continues to receive strong demand for business space in the precinct.
Morne Wilken, chief executive of Attacq, said on Tuesday that four buildings had been completed in Waterfall in the past six months to increase the total directly held portfolio to 694770m² of primary gross lettable area. These buildings had increased Attacq’s total directly held primary gross lettable area in Waterfall by 70424m².
Wilken said Attacq had received inquiries for more than 298000m² of business space in Waterfall, including 172000m² of light industrial space.
He said after Attacq’s interim period to December, an agreement had been concluded for a 32000m² regional distribution centre for a highly respected global brand. “More announcements in this regard will follow soon,” he said.
“Waterfall is our core development and is a catalyst for regional growth in Gauteng. We are very positive about the way ahead.
“We are in the unique position that, in time to come, Waterfall will be a city that is developed, owned and managed by a single company, Attacq,” he said.
Attacq’s portfolio comprises 58 percent retail properties, and Wilken reported that all its regional malls across South Africa were performing well.
He said in the six months to December, its four retail properties in Stellenbosch had been consolidated into the centrally located Eikestad Precinct, in which joint-venture partner Key Capital Property owned 20 percent.
Read also: Attacq set to invest R1bn at Waterfall
Attacq has also invested directly in property in Africa and in central and eastern Europe, and has invested in listed MAS Real Estate.
Wilken said Attacq’s investments outside South Africa were negatively impacted in the six months to December by the strengthening of the rand.
Attacq, which strives to deliver longer-term capital growth to investors, reported that it had a total asset value of R27.1 billion in December.
Since inception until December, it had achieved a compound annual growth rate of 27.7 percent for net asset value a share adjusted for tax.
The company’s adjusted net asset value a share decreased by 1.7 percent year on year to R21.35 in December from R21.72 in the previous corresponding period, largely because of the strengthening of the rand and international market fluctuations.
Wilken said the value of the rand, coupled with the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote in the UK and the Trump presidency in the US, would have an impact on Attacq’s offshore markets in the short term.
Shares in Attacq fell 1.74 percent to close at R18.08.