As the year kicks off, there is much activity on the site of Old Mint Park, Atterbury’s joint venture with Old Mutual Properties along the N1 in Samrand. Development Manager Derrick Pautz gives an update on the progress of the new industrial development, which is in the very centre of gravity between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

What is currently happening on the site?
We completed the construction of the gatehouse in December and started with the bulk earthworks for two new developments. The main contracts will kick off soon, in March. The first is a 10 000sqm multi-tenant warehouse and office building, providing space for up to eight tenants of anywhere between 500sqm and 2 500sqm in a secure business park. The second is a new 4 500sqm warehouse and office building for XON who are relocating from their existing premises in Corporate Park North.

What are the priorities for the site for the next six months and how is the landscape looking for realising those objectives?
Our immediate priority is to get going on the construction of the two new developments mentioned above. We’ll also be installing all civil and electrical services to the township and construct the access road onto the K101.

Who was the first tenant to sign up and what will you be developing for them? When are they scheduled to move into their building/s?
The first lease signed on Old Mint Park was with Fortuna Foods, who’ll be taking up a unit in the Old Mint Park Business Unit development. They will be trading from the facility from October 2018 when all units are due to be complete and available.

Are there any particularly high-end technologies that will set Old Mint Park apart from other industrial parks in the surrounding area?
We place a lot of value on the security of a business park and Old Mint Park will feature the latest in CCTV, access control and intruder-detection systems. Old Mint Park will also offer high-speed fibre access to all tenants.

This seems like a perfect site; are there any not so obvious challenges that will have to be overcome related to where it is situated?
There have been challenges with the access off the K101 and the future K220 road reserve to the north of the site and the water course which runs along it, but all of these challenges have been addressed – Gautrans are due to upgrade and realign the K101 later this year, the K220 road reserve has been taken into account in the masterplan, and we have a water-use-licence and plans to deal with the water course.

Old Mint Park is situated on a very exciting axis from a property point of view – across the road from a proposed new Gautrain station. Is there any indication when that might realise?
The Gautrain extension project is still in preliminary-design phase so it will be a few years before we see tracks being laid along new routes.  However, a station at Samrand is being looked at  to alleviate some of the demand on the Centurion station as well as providing a direct link to OR Tambo for people from Tshwane, so that they don’t need to switch at Marlboro anymore. This station will further elevate Old Mint Park as an attractive location for business due to its excellent accessibility and centrality.

Where can we expect the development to be at in a year from now?
We have seen an uptick in enquiries since the start of the year and are preparing several proposals to new tenants, so, if all goes well, we would like to see Old Mint Park fully let and all sites under construction or occupied by next January!

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Where is Old Mint Park in the world?

  • 15 minutes drive from Mall of Africa and other Waterfall City landmarks.
  • 10km from Grand Central Airport
  • 10km south of Gautrain Grand Central station and north of Gautrain Centurion station
  • situated alongside the busiest stretch of highway in SA, accessed via Old Johannesburg road (K101) intersection, which is due to be upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway, or Samrand road intersection.