China steel giant buys prime Joburg property

Property development and investment Edge Properties (Pty) Ltd has sold a R500m office development in Sandton to China's Sinosteel Corporation.

The development, The Inner Circle, is near the corner of Rivonia road and Grayston drive in the heart of Sandton's financial district, said Edge Properties in a statement on Monday.

Sinosteel Corporation is a global company that engages in mineral resource development, processing, trading and logistics of metallurgical mineral resources and products under the administration of the country's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.  Sinosteel operates 76 subsidiaries in global markets and China, and is also the country's second largest importer of iron ore, said the company.

"Inner Circle new owner Sinosteel will occupy the building, and a delegation from Beijing and Hong Kong arrives today (9 March 2009) to visit the site, and inspect their latest acquisition," said Lawrence Azar, Edge Properties' business development manager and company spokesman.

The ten storey Inner Circle property features 20 287 m?of AAA Grade commercial office space and seven basement parking levels.  Construction of the property began in August 2007, and the completion date is scheduled for July. 

"We believe this to be a landmark deal given the current market conditions for real estate.  Global investment in commercial property fell 59% in 2008 to US $435 billion, down from 2007's record total of US $1,050 billion according to the Cushman & Wakefield's Investment Atlas 2009.  On a positive note, emerging markets now account for 22% of global investment in commercial real estate, when recently they only accounted for 9%."

The Chinese aren't known for having an interest in environmental conservation issues, however Azar said his company believes one of the attractions for Sinosteel in that building was "the bio degradable and low environmental impact status of building materials used during construction, resulting in a stellar green scorecard".

"In addition, the property employs effective design elements to cut energy consumption and minimize costs," said Azar.

He said "eye-catching futuristic solar glass panels and aluminum façade" would be a noticeable feature on the Sandton skyline. 

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