PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

Questions arise on price of Colliers RMS stake
WHY did the MuAfrika-led black empowerment consortium fork out R9m for less than 50% of Colliers RMS, the property services company valued by other suitors at about R7m? This is the question being asked in property circles. Suggestions are that the consortium overpaid.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Dijalo prospers by holding back
THE long route to financial prosperity taken by Dijalo Properties, a blackowned and managed property services company, reflects the conservatism of its owners, Saul Gumede and Hosia Malekane. They do not make headlines with huge mergers and acquisitions, but have made significant strides in penetrating a white-dominated industry. "I belong to the old school and do not subscribe to the idea of getting rich overnight," says Gumede.
(©www.bday.co.za)

State land leased for abalone farm
CAPE TOWN Government has agreed to lease 111ha of land formerly known as the Tooth Rock weapons range near Saldanha in the Western Cape to Clear Seas Aquaculture for the development of an abalone farm, Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau said yesterday.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Getting right site pays off for Keystone
KEYSTONE Investments, developers of Campus Square shopping centre in Melville, Johannesburg, have shown that oversupply in the retail property market can be beaten. Its Campus Square, launched in December, already boasts 90% occupancy of its 18500m² retail space. It is anchored by Pick 'n Pay and Woolworths, and hosts a string of other national branded tenants such as Truworths, Mr Price, Clicks and Ackermans a mix envied by a number of other recently launched developments.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Canary Wharf proposes £300m share buyback
Pretax profit climbs 16% as property group's leasing activity flourishes Reuters LONDON Canary Wharf Group, Britain's second-biggest property firm, rewarded shareholders yesterday with a proposed £300m (426m ) share buyback this year to mark another rise in profits.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Oversupply hits Rand Leases
PROPERTY loan stock company Rand Leases posted a 21,6% decline in headline earnings to 11,3c a linked unit in the six months ended December last year from 16,8c of the previous comparable period. Rand Leases becomes another victim of the oversupply that has hit SA commercial property market particularly in the popular nodes around Johannesburg. The group has added to the list of listed property companies that have reported declining or below forecast earnings.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Corovest enters UK market
COROVEST Capital Property Investment has entered the UK retail property market, buying 20% equity in a £241m fund that holds four UK subregional shopping centres. The group is after rand hedge opportunities, and says this investment complements its other dollardenominated projects in southern Africa, southeast Asia, and the UK.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Publicity beats performance
Financial analysts, brokers and journalists have more confidence in ApexHi, a high-risk loan-stock company, than in blue-chip listed funds such as Grayprop, Martprop, Sycom and Hyprop. This is according to a survey by researchers Campbell & Belman, which canvassed 200 respondents on the financial, IT, industrial and property sectors.
(©www.fm.co.za)

Wooltru's announcement fails to raise share price
CAPE TOWN Wooltru, the holding company for a range of retail and property interests that is unbundling its assets to its shareholders, still offers investors buying in now a bit of "blue sky", judging from its unbundling update and interim results released yesterday. The group announced it would be making a special dividend distribution of 15c a share, representing the R73m of dividends received from its three listed subsidiaries. Wooltru shares failed to respond to that announcement yesterday, but they had gained 10c on Monday, ahead of the dividend declaration.
(©www.bday.co.za)

M&R looks at splitting AWI division
MURRAY & Roberts' Alloy Wheels International (AWI) subsidiary may be split in two after a setback in efforts to strike a deal for its disposal in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US last September.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Another big Japanese builder folds
Firm hit by public works decline, debt Sapa-AFP TOKYO Japanese construction group Sato Kogyo has filed for bankruptcy, depressed by a sharp decline in public works and massive debts dating back to the country's "bubble economy" of the 1980s.
(©www.bday.co.za)

SA's retail rentals among lowest in the world
SA is not alone in facing slowing retail rental growth, according to the Emea Retail Market Index produced by consulting company CB Richard Ellis. Muted retail rental growth appears to be a common phenomenon across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Despite this slower growth, however, prime locations and major centres are resilient. At nearly 10%, rental growth in the European Union remains above growth recorded in the office and industrial sectors.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Survey finds demand for staff in UK has risen
LONDON Demand for new staff by British employers rose in February for the first time in 10 months, providing further evidence that Europe's second biggest economy has begun to pull out of its recent downturn, a new survey showed yesterday.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Growthpoint invests in shopping centres
GROWTHPOINT, an Investec Properties-managed fund, is expanding through a number of projects. The fund is putting R60m into a La Lucia Mall refurbishment project which should be completed in March next year, and is extending River Square shopping centre in Vereeniging to accommodate national retail tenants' demand for additional space.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Sanlam in no rush to decide on adding banking to its services
SANLAM might in future still consider buying a bank but it had taken no decision yet and there was no urgency, the group said yesterday as it reported a 1% increase in its headline earnings to R3,5bn for the year to December.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Talks focus on mineral valuations
THE SA Institute of Mining and Metallurgy is to hold a seminar later this month that may lead to the establishment of guidelines for a new code of practice for the valuation of mineral rights in the country. The new Minerals and Petroleum Resources Bill is likely to go before Parliament next month, and it could be law by the end of the year.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Sasol buys 50% share in blasting firm
CAPE TOWN Listed synthetic fuels and chemicals group Sasol said yesterday its chemicals division, Sasol Chemical Industries (SCI), had acquired a 50% share of Roche Blasting Services from Downer EDI of Australia. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed, and the deal was contingent on the necessary approvals being received from the SA Reserve Bank and other relevant regulatory bodies.
(©www.bday.co.za)

State's unsound fascination with disadvantaged is bad for business
SA BUSINESSES are being held back by government's well-meaning but economically unsound fascination with promoting previously disadvantaged communities, delegates at a technology conference in Cape Town heard yesterday. The policy was damaging businesses by making talented people redundant, although the people supposed to replace them were victims of an education system which left them lacking the skills to succeed, said John Thompson, an IT analyst and former CEO of Computer Sciences Corporation in Europe.
(©www.bday.co.za)

R30m sports centre plan for Durban
Durban is home to many sports and sports enthusiasts, but not everyone has had the opportunity to participate, get training or use the facilities - this is about to change. eThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba has said Durban should become a sporting destination and eThekwini council, along with the Durban Sports Ground Association, ML Sultan Technikon, Technikon Natal and the private sector, are in the process of transforming Curries Fountain into the Curries Fountain Sports Development Centre (CFSDC).
(©www.iol.co.za)

Durban mayor swops office for overalls
Durban Mayor Obed Mlaba is set to swop the comfort of his airconditioned parlour for the sweaty bustle of a construction site next month, giving new meaning to the term "nation building".
(©www.iol.co.za)

Martprop expects real gains in acquisitions
Durban - The R63.22 million acquisition of six properties in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to help boost earnings of Marriott Property Fund (Martprop) in the second half to July 2002 to match last year's 23.5c a unit.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Agencies affirm Aveng's solid foundation on long- and short-term debt
Cape Town - Aveng, the country's largest construction and engineering group, was yesterday awarded sound ratings for both its long-term and short-term debt by Fitch and Global Credit. Fitch assigned Aveng an A (zaf) long-term debt rating and a F1 (zaf) short-term debt rating, while Global gave Aveng an A for its long-term debt and A1 for its short-term debt.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

LeisureNet inquiry subpoenas Gardener and Mitchell again
Cape Town - In an afternoon of high drama in the LeisureNet inquiry, Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell, formerly joint chief executives, were again subpoenaed to appear and hand over documents relating to their offshore companies.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Competition looms in energy sector
A third of power utility Eskom is to be broken off and is likely to be in the hands of domestic and foreign competitors by as early as 2003, opening the way for real competition in the South African generation sector for the first time in history.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Mining-steel unbundling could be hurt by US tariff hike
High new US tariffs on steel imports might cast a shadow over early trade in the shares of the steel division of BHP Billiton when they are spun off mid-year from the mining giant.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Bush ignites steel war
The world’s top steel producers condemned the US for slapping hefty tariffs on steel imports, saying the move undermined the ideals of free trade preached by Washington.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Big station-upgrade programme launched
Rail transport company Spoornet has signed a multimillion-rand contract with Intersite Property Management Services to upgrade and expand Shosholoza Meyl passenger facilities in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Some 30% of black builders are women
About 30% of black building contractors who have registered with the Department of Public Works in Mpumalanga are women, said national spokesperson Lucky Mochalibane.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Toll-road projects worth R5bn are planned for about 2004
Three unsolicited road projects, valued at about R5-billion, will see the N1/N2 road into Cape Town, the Garden route, and the Wild Coast road between Durban and East London become toll-roads in about 2004 when construction is completed.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Joburg's innercity campaigner wants a 'real 24-7 city' again
Personal involvement in the rejuvenation of a city requires determination and tenacity. Such involvement in the rejuvenation of a city like Johannesburg requires an additional component – passion.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROFESSIONS CONVENTION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1-3 May 2002 Sandton, South Africa Click here to register

A clause to bust boom buyers
Rushing to sign for a home ahead of competing buyers became a potentially costly nightmare for Sharon Orchard. The sale fell through and she was faced with R36 000 in agent's commission plus wasted legal costs, as well as a damages claim from the seller.
(©www.fm.co.za)

New homes at: Harfield Village
The latest development in Cape Town’s popular Harfield Village complex is The Village, which comprises 35 sectional title apartments and townhouses priced from R260 000 to R525 000.
(©www.property24.co.za)

So far, so good for property
The rand has yo-yoed and the gold price has tumbled, but the residential property market has so far held firm in the face of the stream of unsettling pre-election news from Zimbabwe.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Spotlight on: Jo’burg’s northeast
Money talks. And to judge by the increase in demand for homes in Johannesburg’s north-eastern suburbs, the value for money to be had there is currently making a great deal of sense to the city’s homebuyers.
(©www.property24.co.za)

5000 properties to choose from
More than 5 000 properties from Pam Golding Properties’ 120 offices nationwide - and starting at R180 000 - are on show at the Sandton Exhibition Centre this week, from 09h00 to 18h00 daily.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Win-win for holiday home buyers
A new concept in holiday home ownership has been launched with the aim of combining the advantages of timeshare and outright purchase, while eliminating their respective drawbacks.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Home prices on the rise again
The downward trend in property prices evident in the last quarter of 2001 has reversed itself, with most areas showing strong growth since the start of the year, despite a one percentage point interest rate rise.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Added danger for private sellers
Selling a property privately – that is, without engaging the services of an estate agent – is tough at the best of times, but now private sellers also have to worry about falling prey to criminals posing as buyers.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Sectional Title and suburban roads
Suburban road closures are beyond the jurisdiction of sectional title bodies corporate and they cannot bind their members to participate in or pay for such schemes.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Ecological sanitation: Protecting our environment
Water quality is deteriorating all over the world because of pollution by vast amounts of faecally contaminated material. Existing systems and available resources are often inadequate to deal with the associated social and behavioural factors, thus contributing to the escalation of ecological problems. Sanitation approaches based on flush toilets, sewers and central treatment plants cannot solve the sanitation problem, nor can the problem in high-density urban areas be solved by systems based on various kinds of pit toilets.
(©www.csir.co.za/akani/)

We also continue the series on MsProject 2000 this week:
Now that we have seen how resources are assigned to tasks and costs are assigned to resources, let us take a look at handling contours and overallocated resources. We will also learn to fine-tune our project and prepare it for publication.
Lesson 3 - Contours, overallocated resources and fine tuning
(©www.stylusinc.net)

Click here to purchase one of the remaining copies of MsProject 2000 from the ASAQS Webshop at half price! Quantity surveyors should be capable of contoling project duration as part of their cost control service - an impossible task without a program such as MsProject.

RODE’S OUTGOINGS NOW AVAILABLE
Rode’s latest benchmarking tools: Outgoings for office buildings, Outgoings for Industrial Buildings and Outgoings for Shopping Centres have just become available in electronic format. These valuable documents provide indispensable information for effective decision-making on operating-expense management, budget forecasting, viability studies and valuations. As a result, property professionals will greatly benefit since Outgoings provides detailed breakdowns on operating expenses per rentable area (m2) and income per rentable area (m2). For further information please e-mail Lynette Smith at lynette@rode.co.za or contact her on 021 946-2480.

HOW NOT TO DESTROY YOUR PRACTICE SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY:
GIfA has advised of an afternoon seminar being held on Wednesday 13 March at 2:30 to ± 4:30 at their offices, 40 Oxford Road, Parktown, cost is R35.00 each. The seminar will be addressed by the well-known architect and arbitrator, Bryan Prisgove. Bookings must be made before the time, either by direct deposit or by credit card. Please call Catrina on 011 486-0684 for booking forms.

CPD PRESENTATIONS - AAAMSA
This presentation will address the legal obligations of Professionals, Contractors and suppliers and offer guidelines to ensure compliance with National Building Regulations in respect of aluminium, glass and partitioning installation thereby eliminating the risk of litigation.
Theme – Safety First – Avoid Litigation
Venue – Saint George Hotel, 58 Old Pretoria Road, Rietvleidam
Date – 18 April 2002 starting at 17h00 through to 19h30
Cost – R 50.00 payable at the venue
RSVP – AAAMSA (fax 012 664-5659 or e-mail exdir@aaamsa.com

New members to the CUG
A warm word of welcome to the following member who has joined us in the CUG during the past week:

Hermann Kushke
Saul Visser
Paul Hurley
Alan Thompson
Gary van Rensburg

Please note that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration contact ASAQS.