Bryanston is a high-end, predominantly residential suburb in Johannesburg, with Epsom Downs situated on its northern border. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Rivonia, Petervale, River Club, as well as Kensington B, all south of the N1 highway, while Douglasdale, Paulshof and Fourways lie to the north. Commercial or residential purchases within this area are regarded as good investment material due to the popularity of the area. The current trend is to convert large freehold properties with huge gardens into sectional title developments, due to the ready market for conveniently situated, upmarket housing estates. There have been 12 residential, sectional title property transfers in the past 12 months. The area also offers excellent retail and commercial property opportunities.
Access
The N1 highway forms the northern boundary of the Bryanston-Epson Downs area, while the R511, the R71, R64, R74, M9, Bryanston and William Nicol Drives provide access within the area or easy travel to distant destinations. Pretoria lies 48 kilometres north on the N1, while Johannesburg is situated 23 kilometres to the south. OR Tambo International Airport is 38 kilometres away, but Lanseria International lies only 23 kilometres distant. Grand Central Private Airport is the most conveniently situated just 21 kilometres away; a popular choice for private or charter flights. The Gautrain bus route passes through the suburb, as do the Metrobus and the Ria Vaya Rapid Bus Transport routes, while minibus taxis are always available.
Amenities
Bryanston boasts a plethora of shopping centres which include Bryanston Shopping Centre, Bryan Park, Riverside, Nicolway, the Wedge, Hobart Grove, Coachman’s Crossing, Grosvenor Crossing, Sandton View or The Cloisters. Sloane Square and Epsom Downs Centre are located in Epsom Downs. These offer a wide selection of retail stores besides many smaller boutiques or specialty stores, coffee shops, eateries including top-class restaurants. In addition to gyms, there are many sport or entertainment facilities, in addition to the Bryanston Country Club and Bryanston Golf Course.
Hotels include City Lodge, The Bryanston, Cape Elegance, Wesley Boutique Hotel, Little Tuscany Boutique Hotel, while there are numerous guest houses and B&Bs. Medical or dental practitioners are available as well as Mediclinic Sandton which is situated in Bryanston. Excellent private or government-funded schools, ranging from pre-primary to secondary are in the area, some of which are Bryanston High School, Greenwich College plus the British International College or BIC. The South African Theological Seminary Distance-based Education Centre is also located here.
Commercial property
Several office parks such as St. Andrews, Ambridge as well as The Campus are situated in Bryanston, while Epsom Downs Office Park is located close to the N1. The SAPOA Office Vacancy Report for April 2017 shows that the area possesses a total of 598 575 square metres of office space. Prime grade consists of 14 011 square metres while A grade offers 285 160 square metres. There are 287 598 square metres of B grade space as well as 11 806 square metres of C grade. Currently there are only 400 square metres of prime space available for leasing, 285 160 square metres of A grade, 287 598 of B grade and 2 930 of C grade. Rentals range from R155 per square metre for prime space to R90 per square metre for C grade offices. The present office vacancy figure of 11.9% is slightly higher than for the past year, where it remained relatively steady between 8.4% and 8.9%,. There are 10 756 square metres of approved development, not yet ready for the market, of which only 8 556 square metres remain available for leasing. The projected rental for this new property is R192 per square metre.
Many large corporates such as Dimension Data, GlaxoSmithKline, Facebook, Tiger Brands, Microsoft Corporation, Ogilvy and Mather, Google SA, Nestlé, Shell SA Energy (Pty) Ltd., Samsung and Danone are situated in Bryanston, while Epsom Downs boasts the head-offices of Omnia Holdings, Protea Chemicals Inland and many others. Such an impressive array of names suggests that the Bryanston-Epsom Downs area is an excellent corporate investment node; indeed, one worth serious consideration.
