The popularity of Epping for its industrial property

Tightly packed between the residential areas of Thornton, Pinelands, Langa, and Kalksteenfontein, and sandwiched together by the N1, N2 and the R102 (Voortrekker Road), the industrial hub of Epping is making waves in the industrial property sphere and drawing a lot of attention to the state of Cape Town’s industrial and warehouse property sector.

With all of the industrial property development going on in Gauteng (especially in and around Midrand), the eyes of the property industry turned to Cape Town to find out what was happening there and found a completely different trend compared to Jo’burg, especially with regard to Epping Industria 1 and Epping Industria 2.

Cape Town reported a significant decline in industrial property vacancies during the first quarter of 2013, which was better performance than any other major centres in the country, and Epping contributed significantly to those figures. The industrial neighbourhood of Epping is an old area, but it enjoys a certain popularity with industrial property owners and tenants. There are a few reasons for its popularity: It is close to major routes as well as to Cape Town’s popular commercial and retail zones like Woodstock, City Bowl, and the V&A Waterfront, as well as Parow, the railway, and the airport. In spite of this popularity, tenants enjoy very low rent, which is currently sitting at an average of around R32 per sqm.

Industrial property investors have seen the value in Epping and there has been some movement in the buying and selling of property in this industrial area – not for the current rental income, but to redevelop many of the industrial facilities and rent them out to future tenants at a higher price. Like Epping itself, the industrial facilities are old and need to be revamped to meet tenants’ more modern requirements.

Industrial tenants include receivers and distributors, as well as logistics companies that need larger warehouse space that is neat, air-conditioned (where necessary), secure, and with larger outdoor loading and manoeuvring space for bigger trucks and logistics vehicles. In a modern era that’s all about efficiency, the older industrial property in Epping is already undergoing upgrades and redevelopment. Redeveloped warehouse space will be rented out at a more appropriate, market-related price of between R40 and R60 per sqm. And while this may seem like a drastic increase compared to the old price, tenants will be getting a lot more for their buck, such as modern amenities, better security, and more space.