SA Corporate Real Estate, which owns a diversified property portfolio in SA and Zambia, saw its SA retail vacancies reduce slightly due to leasing of new space.
In its pre-close update on Thursday, the company said vacancies fell to 3.1% by the end of October from 3.2% at end-December 2022.
During the same period, national tenancy rose from 63.3% to 66.7%, while its convenience offering increased to 63.3% from 59.2%.
The company signed nine new leases for 9,939m2. Of these, five were new tenants at Morning Glen mall, with the balance at Umlazi Mega City, The Oaks, Springfield Value Centre and Coachman’s Crossing.
SA Corporate, which owns a portfolio of convenience-focused retail assets, has focused on revamping and upgrading some of its malls while adding new tenants to enhance its retail offering.
At Morning Glen, leases of more than 3,600m2 were signed introducing new tenants including Blueberry Beacon, Golden Tee, Foodies Feast, Willow Way Crossfit and Pick n Pay Clothing.
Trading density reduced from 5.1% in June to 4.8% due to redevelopment at Musgrave Centre and competition to The Oaks Centre in Ermelo. Rental reversions improved from a negative 0.8% to a positive 0.8% owing to favourable renewals by Pick n Pay at Montana Crossing and Absa at Musgrave Centre. The fund expects reversions to be from 2.5%-3% at the end of December.
The JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) owns industrial, retail and residential properties. It also has a 50% joint venture interest in three Zambian entities and listed investments.
In Zambia, vacancies at East Park Mall fell from 1.6% in June to 0.9% at the end of October, with rental reversions improving from 2.8% to 3% in dollar terms.
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