Property fund completes R212m business park acquisition

Inospace Property Fund is an owner and operator of branded business parks providing conventional and flexible workspaces.

Jacques Weber, Operational Director for Inospace said, "We have been on a bold yet strategic acquisition strategy over the past 14 months, and are delighted in particular to have recently acquired Table Bay Industrial Park which will be renamed The Island".

The Cape-based property company acquired the 24,000 square metre Island Centre from Ascension Properties for R115m.

With their recent acquisition from SA Corporate Real Estate, the 18-month old company has become the largest property owner in Paarden Eiland, which is one of the country’s most valuable industrial suburbs.

Weber explained that Inospace is part of a global trend of highly specialised real estate businesses taking advantage of a structural market shift, one that is moving towards a customer-first and flexible approach.

The property fund has had a record year in terms of transactional volumes and is focusing on a few nodes which are on the urban edge of South Africa’s major cities.

The privately held company acquires large industrial sites and provides a range of free shared services including restaurants, business centres, meeting rooms and technology solutions.  

Weber explains that most property companies shy away from their operationally intensive model. “We are not a real estate fund nor are we a property manager”.  

This acquisition will bring the company’s sites to over 20. The company seems to be bucking the trend of several larger property funds that have been under pressure through most of 2018, by showing phenomenal growth.

"This latest acquisition plays to the strengths of our integrated business model and track record of achieving efficiencies at sites we acquire in and around markets where we already have existing business parks," concluded Weber.