As part of Shoprite Holdings’ restructure and review of its property portfolio, the company will be auctioning seven of its non-core retail centres (all with anchor tenant leases to be concluded) on the 12th of September.
According to Lance Chalwin-Milton, Joint Managing Director of High Street Auctions, this portfolio auction indicates that there is no loss in market appetite for retail centres – a trend which was more than evident in early 2017.
“In just about every auction that High Street has conducted since the beginning of last year we’ve had at least one, and frequently more, retail offerings in our catalogues. Prior to this, retail centres were like hen’s teeth; one simply didn’t see them come to market.
“This is the first foray into the retail property auction space by a titan such as Shoprite since this property trend shifted into its most recent J-curve, though, and we welcome the move that indicates the group’s confidence in the auction model to reshuffle its current property portfolio,” says Chalwin-Milton.
The several retail properties are spread across three provinces; five of them concentrated in the Western Cape.
Shoprite has already successfully disposed of one Western Cape properties located in Lady Grey Street in Paarl for R25.5 million.
The Shoprite Corporate Disposal Lots in the Western Cape in September are:
- The street-facing Shopite Centre is in the bustling heart of Voortrekker Road in Bellville. The centre, located at No 147, covers a Gross Land Area of approximately 5 500m², and falls within the footprint of the area’s active City Improvement District that is a major catalyst for commercial business resurgence. It is located just a short distance off the major arterial of the N1.
- Just a little further along Voortrekker Road in Parow is another of the retail centres going on auction. This one houses a Shoprite, a Shoprite Liquor Store and a Hungry Lion, among other tenants. The centre has a GLA of 4 660m² and is the local retail centre that services the busy suburb of Parow.
- The freestanding Shoprite supermarket in Victoria Road, Woodstock, is also the retail heart of that community and the store with the street-fronted entrance is busy from open to close. The property has a GLA of1 122m².
- The final Cape Town Shoprite property is located at 11 Abegglen Street in Central Strand. It is one of the busiest supermarkets in the small coastal hub with a Gross Land Area of 2 517m².
- The freestanding Shoprite supermarket on the corner of Main and Market streets in Vredenburg acts as the main retail offering for this busy West Coast town. The property has a Gross Land Area of 2 287m².
Moving across the country, the remaining Shoprite retail offerings to be auctioned are:
- The Shoprite Centre at the corner of Rietbok Street and Ben Alberts Way in Kathu in the Northern Cape. Kathu is a bustling mining town home to one of the five largest open-cast iron ore mining operations in the world. The portion of the centre owned by Shoprite has a Gross Land Area of 4 148m².
- The Shoprite U-Save located at 31 Brand Street in Kroonstad in the Free State. The building has a Gross Land Area of 1 711m².
High Street Auctions Lead Auctioneer and Director Joff van Reenen says corporate asset adjustment occurs through all economic cycles.
“Asset registers are assessed frequently for surpluses or redundancies and especially in economic downturns the speed at which a property can be sold at auction compared to through traditional brokers is something corporates find very attractive.
“The sales model also better serves their needs; once the hammer falls it is standard for the full purchase price to be paid within a month. The transparency, agility and speed are a transactional triangle that works for boards and shareholders, and this triangle is among the reasons many of our clients have been with us for years.
“Buyers also benefit because they can acquire assets at fair market value as determined by demand on the day, and there are frequently exceptionally good deals to be found.”
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