|
Quantity
surveyors are cost effective option
 People
building homes of more than R1-million are being encouraged to use
the services of quantity surveyors at the outset, specifically for
the contractual and financial management of the project. Spokesman
for the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors, Len Harris,
said they were concerned about the rise in the number of disputes
between consumers and builders over new upmarket homes. "The increase
is commensurate with the improved conditions in the residential
market, but the conflict between the parties appears to be increasingly
rooted in poorly drawn up and, in some cases, sloppily applied building
contracts," he said. Harris said that during his recent term as
president of the association, he had been requested to nominate
arbitrators in several construction disputes, the majority of which
involved home building projects. He said these disputes often stemmed
from clients altering construction plans during building and not
recording the changes in writing. In some cases, clients were also
unaware that alterations meant additional expenses and an increase
in the amount of time it would take to complete the home.
(©www.iol.co.za)
Liquidators
urged to call in property experts
Liquidators need to call in property development experts to rescue
faltering projects, says South Cape Trust CE Steyn Rivett-Carnac.
"Several times in the past few years," he says, "our company has
been interested in taking over developments that have gone into
liquidation. All too often, however, the liquidators have been unable
to give us the basic information we require before deciding whether
or not to attend the auction.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Following
growth trend in Oz
SA's R8bn listed property market is poised to see prolific growth
in the next few years if it continues to follow Australian market
trends. Gerald Nelson, Association of Property Unit Trusts (Puts)
chairman, says the SA property investment market faces the same
challenges and opportunities as the Australian market did 10 years
ago. These include a demand for greater liquidity, a decline in
interest rates and relatively low and stable inflation.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Solid
returns against equities and bonds
Property is emerging once again as an important investment portfolio
component, given better returns over the past five years than equities
or bonds, says the JHI Real Estate's SA property report 2001. The
report says property has recorded a total return of 12,9% on the
all property index over the past five years, compared with equities
at 7,8%, bonds at 4,8% and against an inflation rate of 7,3%.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Loan-stock
property sector set for growth
ALL pointers suggest that the property loan stock sector of the
JSE Securities Exchange SA will see an unprecedented scale of growth
in the next few years. Complemented with sound investment fundamentals,
the sector is set for a revolution a revolution that could deliver
what property investors have for many years been hoping for, namely
liquidity and critical mass in property as an asset class. This
could bring back the interest of institutional investors who have
ignored property in favour of other assets.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Taking
a different look at risk
The commercial and industrial property market in SA is taking an
increasingly focused view of the different types of risk that pertain
to investment in different property sectors and nodes, says Russell
Inggs, head of Nedbank Property Finance.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Key
trends in the industrial sector
The performance of listed property vehicles against directly- held
property continues to highlight the need for experience and skill
in assembling and managing a portfolio, says Roger Perkin, asset
manager of Marriott Property Fund (Martprop). He says that while
returns on directly-held industrial property languished at around
7,1% last year, Martprop's industrial property returned 17,3%, according
to SA property information exchange index figures. Martprop is a
property unit trust with 67% of its portfolio invested in the industrial
sector.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Megaprojects
main cause of oversupply
Oversupply continues to dominate most sectors of SA's property market
as the development of megaprojects in cities gains impetus, with
industry players hoping for further interest-rate cuts to give the
sector a boost.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Regional
centre market saturated
Smaller stores closer to home now
show the most potential
REGIONAL shopping centres no longer offer viable development opportunities
and future growth in the retail property sector is expected by refurbishing
existing ones and the development of convenience centres. Richard
O'Sullivan, Domayne Leasing Consultants' national leasing executive,
says retail turnovers have been adversely affected by the cost of
private education and cellphones, and by gambling establishments,
which has taken a chunk out of consumers' disposable income.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Positive
spin-offs in commercial oversupply
THE perception that there is oversupply in the local commercial
property sector has had positive spin-offs, says the latest Nedbank
Property Finance quarterly report.
(©www.bday.co.za)
New
firms must invest in the right premises
Entrepreneurs are urged to consider carefully the premises they
choose for their start-up business as the impression created by
the location sets the platform for future business deals.
(©www.netassets.co.za)
Ster-Kinekor
forced to shut five theatres
A fall in profit caused by a decline in cinema audiences has forced
Ster-Kinekor to close five nonperforming theatres countrywide and
to put another four up for sale. There have been job losses at head
office and regional offices to cut costs.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Flight
from Jo'burg CBD comes to an end
But retaining tenants requires big commitment from owners
THE exodus of companies from Johannesburg's city centre appears
to have come to an end, with most of the big entities that planned
to move out of the city to decentralised areas having already done
so. Hugh Basel, GM marketing of RMB Properties, says that a lot
of the big players moving out of the city centre now own their own
properties in outlying areas such as Sandton and Fourways. "This
raises the question as to where the megaprojects, such as Melrose
Arch, are going to get their big tenants from, particularly as a
lot of the banks have gone to Sandton."
(©www.bday.co.za)
Facing
the internet challenge
THERE are essentially two schools of thought on what sort of effect
"etailing", or shopping over the internet, will have on the retail
sector, says Rodney Luntz, of property consultants Abro Luntz. The
worst-case scenario is that consumers will prefer to shop at home
via computers, leaving bricks and mortar shops to languish and leading
to a drop in sales per square metre, which would depress rents and
leave some shops vacant. "The blue skies scenario is that internet
shopping is little more than dressed-up catalogue shopping and that
delivery systems are inefficient," says Luntz. The truth probably
lies somewhere between, in that the two modes of shopping can work
in tandem, complementing one another but clearly those who do not
climb on the bandwagon are under threat.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Pretoria
weathering the change
PROPERTY in the Pretoria city centre is managing to hold its own
in a tough market, says Jeffrey Wapnick, of City Property Administration.
Pretoria CBD has not experienced many of the problems that the Johannesburg
city centre faced, and those problems that are similar have affected
Pretoria to a lesser extent. "Retail property in the Pretoria CBD
has weathered change well and there are areas in the core that have
not lessened at all, despite a general weakening of trade in the
CBD, and in certain cases have even experienced growth," says Wapnick.
(©www.bday.co.za)
New
urbanism will bring old benefits back into play
THE new urbanism town planning philosophy that underpins Johannesburg's
Melrose Arch property development is a relatively fresh concept
in SA and could have a significant social effect. The first phase
of the R1bn mixed-use project will be completed before the end of
this year. The strategy was developed jointly by MAPPS1, Urban Solutions
and Paul Murrain. It is based on traditional town planning concepts
of mixedused connectivity, integrated open-street systems and defined
public and private domains.
(©www.bday.co.za)
KwaZulu-Natal
could be making wine in seven years
KwaZulu-Natal is investigating the possibility of producing wine
in the northwest region of the province after developments in the
US indicate wine need not only be produced in winter rainfall areas,
agriculture and environmental affairs MEC Narend Singh said yesterday.
(©www.bday.co.za)
R130m
rural water project is nearing completion in Mpumalanga
WBHO, a member of the Consult Consortium, is nearing completion
of a R130m build, operate, train and transfer project to provide
water and related services to rural communities throughout Mpumalanga.
The consortium has completed 17 reservoirs and 190km of water pipeline,
installed water meters, refurbished pump stations and built new
ones. It has also been responsible for new water purification works,
elevated water tanks and provision of raw water intake works, with
construction spread over 400km².
(©www.bday.co.za)
E.London
port shows strong growth
East London - The East London port has experienced huge growth over
the past two years, making it a major South African motor vehicle
harbour, and its container traffic is set to double, Portnet spokesman
Terry Taylor said on Wednesday. The growth in cargo both into and
out of East London could be attributed to the increase in motor
vehicle shipments and to the regular direct sailings introduced
last year from Europe and the Far East.
(©news.24.com) (Note: only available to MWeb subscribers)
Developers,
investors re-enter rental market
Developers and investors are once again turning their attention
to rental units, thanks to indications that flat rents are on the
move again after a slowdown earlier this year, according to the
latest Rode Report on the South African property market.
(©news.24.com)
New
Ballito development in time for winter holidaymakers
There appears to be nothing to stop the Ballito property juggernaut,
and as fast as new developments are launched they are snapped up
by eager holiday home buyers, retirees and regular commuters.
(©news.24.com)
|
| On
the side... |
| Special
survey : Cape Town |
New
cash lifts Cape Town's fortunes
The revitalisation of the Cape Town central business district
(CBD) has led to a massive cash injection by two of SA's biggest
listed companies. Nedcor is to invest more than R100m as it
prepares to base its regional headquarters in the c...
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Gauteng
recovery boosts Cape residential market
THE Cape Town residential property market is on a gradual upward
trend, with strong foreign interest and domestic demand picking
up with the revival of the Gauteng market. Andrew Golding, MD
of Pam Golding Residential Properties, estimates an 8% to 10%
rise in Cape Town house prices year-on-year. Although Cape Town
has underperformed against the growth in the Gauteng market,
this was largely due to the low base of the latter, he says.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
R6bn
committed to revitalisation efforts
INVESTORS have committed more than R6bn to projects
in the Cape Town city centre and V&A Waterfront, providing firm
support for ambitious revitalisation efforts that seek to prevent
the wholesale suburban flight that has blighted other SA cities.
The Cape Town Partnership, a nonprofit public-private sector
company dedicated to developing the city's commercial, cultural,
leisure and tourist potential, is pursuing numerous other ventures
aimed at eradicating "crime and grime" and restoring older sections
of the CBD.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Developing
the IT gateway to Africa
THE Western Cape's information technology sector,
currently the country's second largest behind that of Gauteng,
is well on its way to becoming a global hub and an IT gateway
to Africa. Bearing testimony to their upbeat sentiment, say
the Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (Wesgro)
and the Cape Information Technology Initiative (Citi), is a
recently released report on the industry in the province. The
report shows that in just over a year the industry in the Western
Cape has grown by almost half.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Port
plans upgrade to handle traffic growth
CAPE TOWN'S port is set for a major upgrade if
a draft development strategy being assessed by management is
adopted. And yesterday saw the official opening of Safmarine's
R40m container depot constructed on a 12,5ha site in the Montague
Gardens/Killarney area. Three key problems have been identified
in the harbour the delay strong south-easterly winds cause in
cargo handling, the expected lack of capacity of the container
terminal, and a lack of ship-repair facilities.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
Passengers
arrive in the latest style
CAPE TOWN'S status as an international city has
been considerably enhanced by the opening of a R113m international
arrivals terminal at the airport. "The ultra-modern facility
will treble the airport's passengerhandling capability on the
international side. "We now have the ability to process the
passengers of four jumbo jets arriving simultaneously," says
airport GM Monwabisi Kalawe.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
Century
City complex is like another CBD
CENTURY City, situated near the N1 highway
midway between the Cape Town and Bellville commercial centres,
is close to reaching critical mass as an urban centre in its
own right. The 250ha development has attracted investment totalling
more than R2,4bn over the past four years, with more than 308000m²
of net lettable office and retail area developed since 1996.
©(www.bday.co.za)
|
Establishing
a specific brand
TEAM Cape Town a forum for organisations involved in marketing
the city is close to completing a far-reaching research project
comparing Cape Town's attributes as a tourism and investment
destination with those of other major cities in SA and around
the world. The intention is to establish a "brand positioning"
for the city and give marketers the facts and figures they need
to attract new investment. The data-collection phase is expected
to be completed by the end of this month, with a comparative
report available by mid-June.
©(www.bday.co.za)
|
Plan
to woo more international tourists
CAPE TOWN has won global accolades as a tourist
destination and is regarded as a "must-see" by international
tourists visiting SA, says Rick Taylor, Cape Metropolitan Tourism
CEO. The city was recently voted Africa's leading destination
at the World Travel Awards in Malaysia. About 830000 international
tourists visit the Western Cape annually, spending about R12bn,
while domestic tourists number 2,3-million and spend R8bn.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Hope
that renewal of city centre will reverse flight to suburbs
THE revitalisation of the Cape Town city centre
has come in the nick of time as decentralised office blocks
and secure business parks have mushroomed over the past few
years due to escalating crime and traffic congestion in the
central business district (CBD). Most prominent among the secure
estates are the Westlake and Steenberg developments in the southern
suburbs and Century City to the north, adjacent to the Ratanga
Junction theme park and Canal Walk complex.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
R500m
centre for conventions
CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of Cape Town's R500m international
convention centre began last month, with completion scheduled
for 2003. The project, a publicprivate sector joint venture,
should push Cape Town to the forefront of the conferencing industry
in SA, which is already estimated to generate R8bn in revenue
each year
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
Meeting
global tourism standards
AN INNOVATIVE partnership between the
city council and the business sector ensures that the heart
of Cape Town is kept clean and safe in its quest to meet the
standards required of a globally competitive city. The Cape
Town Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture between the city and
the private sector established in 1999, strives to achieve international
best practice in the management of the city centre.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
Regent
Square targets smaller tenants in new phase
DESIGN flexibility and a readiness to listen to the tenant will
be the key approach in the development of the second phase of
the R250m new office development Regent Square in Cape Town.
Situated on the western edge of the Kenilworth racetrack, Regent
Square is a joint venture between Rabie Property Developers,
Absa bank and Abland Development.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
House
to have 360 degree revolving floor
This newly built R7m mountainside Somerset West home is said
to be the first private home in the world with a top floor capable
of revolving 360 degrees offering views of much of the Cape
Peninsula, including both False Bay and Table Bay.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Peninsula
'paradise' going under hammer
One of the Peninsula's last strips of undeveloped coastal property,
bordering the Cape Peninsula National Park, comes under the
auctioneer's hammer next week. Alon Kowen, speaking for the
auctioneers, said on Monday that the 40ha piece of land at Smitswinkel
Bay was expected to fetch between R4-million and R8-million.
(©www.iol.co.za) |
|
|
New documents
The 2001 Fee Scales have been added to the closed
user group.
The latest NCAC
practice notes have been added to the Library section
of our website. The page also contains interesting links to the
BIFSA website. More documents and application forms for membership
to ASAQS will be added during the coming week. Remember to download
and print out the colourful SA Property Report 2001 listed under
Special Reports in this newsletter.
Do
you think that qs students should be taught cost management for
heavy engineering projects?
Initial results to the above question indicate that all respondents
believe that qs students should be taught cost management for heavy
engineering projects. Whilst 47% of respondents believe this should
take place during their study towards a bachelors degree, 26% believe
that an additional specialisation year will be required and the
balance of respondents would like to see a correspondence course
introduced so that they may enroll. We have e-mailed the QS departments
at universities with a request to comment on the matter but have
not received a reply as yet. If you haven't cast your vote as yet
please
do it now.
Get
10% discount on essential software now
We have negotiated a special deal on software that will ease your
task in handling the new JBCC, assist you in preparing feasibility
scenarios in a fraction of the time and get your fee accounts out
in a flash. Just click on the link above to make use of this offer
today!
Cathodic
Protection for Steel Reinforcement
Corrosion of reinforcing steel in bridges and parking garages is
a well-known and costly problem. In the presence of chlorides, moisture
and oxygen, corrosion takes place at appreciable rates. The resulting
corrosion products, which are more than twice the volume of the
original uncorroded steel, create tensile stresses in the surrounding
concrete. When these internal stresses are excessive, the concrete
in the vicinity of the reinforcement cracks and eventually spalls
or delaminates. Repairs then have to be done promptly before irreparable
damage to the reinforcement occurs. This article looks at the problem
as well as possible solutions.
(©www.nrc.ca)
Amicable
Settlement?
The new FIDIC fifth edition provides a different dispute resolution
process. An adjudication board has replaced the engineer's clause
67 procedure. Roger Knowles takes a look at dispute resolution under
the old- and new FIDIC editions.
(©www.industryclick.com)
New members to the CUG
We wish to welcome the following new member to the CUG:
Giel Cillie
Andrew Pearce
Freda Geyser
Zelda Jansen van Rensburg
Alan Thompson
Nina van Jaarsveld
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.
|
| Did you hear? |
| Andy Capistrano commentating
on the Sharks/Cats match: "Swanepoel picked up a fatal injury
early in the season and has been struggling with his game ever
since." Do they go to a special school for commentators or are
they born? |
| Even Formula 1 racing suffers
from political correctness. Instead of saying Mika Hakkinen
stalled his car at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren
technical boss Adrian Newey said: "It was related to the launch
control. I think it's basically a human systems interface problem,
not an engineering error." |
| The new chief executive of Portcon,
part of Portnet, is Ivor Funnell. |
Time now for some great pearls of wisdom.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt
and a leaky tire.
Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't
be promoted.
No-one is listening until you break wind.
Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
It may just be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve
as a bad example.
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities
without your help.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to
fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Don't worry, it only seems kinky the first time.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark
side, and it holds the universe together.
We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse. |
Now
read the rest of Did you Hear? in the Financial Mail
| Did
you see? |
|
|
| Twin towers being erected in Vienna's
business district - two views |
|
