Atterbury goes mega industrial

A new industrial and business park development of R850 million will soon be rising at Gosforth Park, in Germiston. We spoke to Gerhard van der Westhuizen from Atterbury Property Developments to get the lay of the land…

How does Apex Industrial Park compare to other industrial developments in the Atterbury portfolio, such as Richmond Park down in Cape Town?
Apex is not the biggest development we’ve tackled and it’s only about half the size of Richmond Park, but it is extremely well situated in terms of our objectives. At around 23 hectares it is about the same as other Atterbury industrial developments such as Waterfall Distribution Campus and Waterfall commercial district.

What makes the location so beneficial?
It is right on the N3, N12 and the N17, three of the busiest thoroughfares for freight traffic in the country, on the main routes between Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and KZN, so it’s really central in terms of the distribution of goods. It is just a couple of kilometres from Rand Airport and the site also has the benefit of excellent visibility, so it will advertise itself.

What exactly is planned for the site?
It will be mainly large distribution warehouses, but we have concept plans for other elements such as a small retail component, some drive-thru fast food outlets, office space and possibly a hotel.

When you mix business and industrial, what are the most important considerations when it comes to planning?
Location and accessibility really are the most important consideration, as well as visibility, and we have all those covered.

What do the timelines look like for completion? In a mall you wait until the whole complex is finished before you allow tenants to start trading; is it different with an industrial park?
This whole project is tenant driven – we build according to what tenants require, so building usually only happens once a deal is signed with a tenant. We normally don’t put up warehouses on spec. We’ll be ready to start building around August – by then all local authority approvals and permissions should be in place. Tenants take delivery of their buildings for trading and operational purposes as soon as we’ve completed them, so it is different to a mall, yes. That’s also why it’s difficult to give a date for final completion, though we hope to be fully let and developed by 2019.

Does Atterbury have a bigger strategy regarding industrial developments – can we expect to see more of these deals being signed in the near future?
We really respond to market demand, and currently there is quite a lot of opportunity in the industrial sector, which is why this is the space we are playing in right now. We just signed a deal for a massive, 85 hectare site in Erasmuspark, between Pretoria and Centurion, which will be the next big thing… that development could ultimately be worth as much as R8 billion, so watch this space.

Under construction – A tale of 2 developments

We compare Atterbury’s two current industrial developments, Apex Industrial Park and Richmond Park, in numbers.