Two extremely experienced commercial property brokers in KwaZulu-Natal, Sheldon Johnsen and Jacques Nagel, have been given the go-ahead by the Rawson Property Group to establish a new commercial franchise in Durban South.
Berea franchise and before that for Property 031.
The area which they are serving runs roughly 10 km from Maydon Wharf to Prospecton, and it includes Jacobs, Mobeni, Congella and Isipingo, the high demand area in which many KZN industrialists are now trying to find space.
Jacobs’ popularity, said Nagel recently, stems from about the year 2000 when it was given a Zone One rating by the shipping/container delivery companies. This means that it is now significantly less expensive to deliver containers to Jacobs, which is only 7 km from the harbour than it is to deliver to the newer, smarter industrial areas north of Durban such as Springfield and Riverhorse Valley which have a Zone Three rating. Furthermore, because of the high standard of the premises in this Zone Three area, rentals here are higher than they are in Jacobs. Mobeni and Prospecton, Zone Two areas which are also served by this Rawson Commercial team are also significantly less expensive to service than the properties to the north.
The increase of new buyers and tenants in Jacobs in recent years has seen premises and rents here rising at roughly 10% per annum, said Nagel. It has also caused owners to upgrade their premises, which before 2000 were often regarded as out-of-date and inconvenient.
Today in Jacobs, rentals of industrial space, said Nagel, are pitched between R38 per m2 and R45 per m2 and premises of this kind are sold at R4,000 to R4,500 per m2. Only two years ago, in 2012, the average sale price, he said, was R3,500 per m2.
Due to the fact that they know their area well and have contacts throughout it, Nagel and Johnsen believe that they will continue to be able to achieve an average of five signed leases and one or two sales per month. Nagel foresees the franchise’s turnover rising at 20% per annum for the next few years.
“We are in the right place at the right time,” he said. “Although stock is in short supply, as soon as it does become available it is snapped up and I can testify that operating under the Rawson Property Group banner has been beneficial. With ten KZN franchises now up and running and 45 yellow and black branded Rawson vehicles on the road, it seems that the Rawson name is liked and respected here in KZN despite our first franchise having been established only five years ago.”
For further information contact Sheldon Johnsen on 083 788 4330 or Jacques Nagel on 073 236 0543. The franchise, which is operating from 106A Umbilo Road, Shop Four, can be emailed at durban-south@rawsoncommercial.com.
