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CIARAN RYAN: An interesting opportunity for property investors has just popped up. Ali Rhodes Holdings is [currently] in business rescue and is selling off a portfolio of 28 properties situated across Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
The portfolio has a strong focus on residential accommodation, and there’s also a commercial office building in Woodmead [Johannesburg], with some good income-earning opportunities among them.
Joining us to discuss this is Nico Maree, director of Park Village Auctions and vice-chair of the South African Institute of Auctioneers.
Hello, Nico. Thanks very much for your time. So 28 properties are being put up for auction. Just give us a brief rundown. What is in this portfolio and why is it being auctioned?
NICO MAREE: Ciaran, thank you and thank you for inviting me on this podcast. To all the listeners, this is an exciting portfolio, I must really tell you.
There are about 28 investment and development properties located across four provinces: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. The assets include student accommodation, a residential apartment block, and a residential house.
As correctly mentioned earlier, there’s a secure B+ office building in Woodmead. I’ve actually been in most of them. It’s a sizeable portfolio which makes it particularly interesting to buyers across the board – and on individual lots, depending on what your investment needs are.
So very exciting with lots of opportunity here to make money for buyers.
CIARAN RYAN: All right. The portfolio is being sold under business rescue, so should investors understand why that is?
NICO MAREE: I’m here to serve the coffee, to give you the properties that come to market. Business rescue shouldn’t automatically be viewed as a negative aspect.
In many cases, properties or operations that come to market through business rescue still have strong underlying fundamentals.
They may simply require capital investment or capex, improved management – which I think in many cases is the case – and operational restructuring for the new ownership to approach, to make this a good investment going forward.
In this case, the portfolio offers scale. I think there’s a lot of scale in established locations.
Income-generating potential is huge, and the development properties are huge. So for investors with the correct appetite, with funding and operational capacity, I think it presents a very attractive entry point – or an expansion point for that matter.
CIARAN RYAN: So would this be more suited to experienced investors, or are you casting your net a little bit wider than that?
NICO MAREE: Well, I think in some respects it is. But at the same time individual lots do appeal to the broader investor base. So it’s for everyone. Everyone can get involved here.
The portfolio as a whole will be more attractive to investors with experience, obviously, especially if you have experience in the residential rentals or in student accommodation, if you’re already in the student accommodation space.
Or property turnarounds, or developers, or multi-asset portfolio managers. I think there’s so much possibility – especially for the experienced, but also for the broad base.
The opportunity is not simply to acquire property but also to unlock long-term value with good return on investment and with the right property management.
So I think it’s for everyone. It’s not just for the experienced.
CIARAN RYAN: Okay. So we’ve talked about 28 properties that are coming up for sale. We’ve mentioned there’s a commercial office block in Woodmead. There’s some residential accommodation as well.
Talk us through some of the other more interesting properties that are coming up for auction.
NICO MAREE: As I said, very exciting. We’ve got in Roodepoort, the Sandy Lane residential complex in Grobler Park, which comprises 144 bedroom units in a secure access-controlled complex.
We have a property in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal, which is called The Summit Apartments and offers 38 sectional title units, all configured as three-bedroom apartments with basements and external parking, lift access, and partial sea views from some of the selected units.
If you want to go down to the coast and you want to invest there, there is an excellent opportunity there. Obviously, the rent rolls are also all available to see what type of income you’re getting there.
There are also several residential apartment blocks in Florida, Roodepoort, including San Julian, and the San Lida Apartments.
There are the SS Mockridge Apartments, the Ruan Court Apartments, the San Diego, San Luis – too many to name. These properties provide a range of bachelor, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and even three-bedroom accommodation suited for the affordable residential rental market.
My father always used to say to me, ‘The earth’s not getting bigger, but the people are getting more’. So this is an excellent opportunity for the residential market.
In Vanderbijlpark, we have Hemingway Heights, which offers a residential rental opportunity with 84 bedroom units, paved internal roads and 112 parking bays. The portfolio also includes a large-scale residential rental development opportunity in Meyerton.
I think that is excellent. I was there myself. It was half finished, but there is such potential there, it’s crazy. As well as vacant development land in areas such as Centurion and Witbank – also very well located.
In addition to the residential accommodation assets, there’s also a prime grade B-plus office building which is in Woodmead, 21D Polar Crescent Road in Woodmead Office Park.
I was also there. Excellent facilities offering a strong corporate address with reception areas, boardrooms – we had a couple of meetings there – private offices, open-plan office areas, kitchenettes and parking underground as well as outside.
So right next to the highway; I think it’s the N3. Excellent, excellent location.
There’s also one student-accommodation property being the Esplanade student accommodation building in Quigney in East London – I was there myself as well – located close to the beachfront on the Esplanade, within reach of all tertiary institutions, all the universities there. That is mainly a women’s res.
Also an excellent building, excellent opportunities. I don’t remember the percentage of the tenants there, but it was fairly full if I remember correctly. The rent rolls are available. It’s also well situated for public transport and surrounding amenities.
So as a whole, Ciaran, what a wonderful investment opportunity. You can buy them all if you want, but one has look at your return on your investment, and this is the opportunity to do it.
CIARAN RYAN: All right. Let’s wrap it up here now. So just talk quickly about the process and how it works and what happens if you receive two or more identical offers on the same property – and finally whom to contact.
NICO MAREE: Ciaran, this is a public invitation to submit offers. It’s much the same as a tender process, so interested buyers may submit their offers on individual lots or any combination of lots, depending on their investment requirements.
In order to participate, prospective buyers are required to pay a refundable registration deposit of R100 000. Once the deposit has been paid, the buyer receives a non-disclosure agreement which they must sign.
And then all the official offer documentation, relevant information and information packs, which we made available to all prospective buyers will be made available. The buyers will then have the opportunity to conduct their own due diligence to visit the properties before they submit their formal offers.
All the offers must be submitted on the official offer documentation, which is provided and prescribed by the business rescue practitioners, and the offers close at 5pm, on Tuesday the 30th of June 2026. I repeat that – 5pm on Tuesday, 30th June 2026.
Don’t be late. Make sure you submit your offers before the time.
Viewing is obviously strictly by appointment. We have agents across the country who are prepared and able to receive all the interested parties so that they can conduct their due diligence. You must also contact Park Village Auctions to make the necessary arrangements.
In the event where there are two or more competing offers which are exactly the same, we will have what they call a ‘shootout’. Those buyers will be called to a closed auction, and the highest bid on the closed auction will take it.
So make sure that you get your highest offers in. You can contact Park Village Auctions directly, or you can contact me, Nico Maree, at 082 625 4455 or 051 430 2300, or you can just send a mail to Bloem3@ParkVillage.co.za to request any further information or for viewing of the properties.
CIARAN RYAN: All right, Nico, thank you very much for that very exciting opportunity and good luck with all of that. Thanks very much for joining us.
NICO MAREE: Thank you for your time, Ciaran.
Brought to you by Park Village Auctions.
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