Once little more than a convenient road, William Moffet Drive in Port Elizabeth is undergoing a transformation towards becoming the city’s hottest new commercial property node.

Arnie Katz, director for Broll Property Group and PE commercial property specialist, says although speculative industrial developments in the city have not been easy to fill, developments in William Moffet, Fairview and the Buffelsfontein areas have attracted interest, particularly with the release of restitution land, of which the first 100-metres adjacent to William Moffet Drive is reserved for commercial development.

“Large-scale development is expected to take place on the restitution land soon,” says Katz.

“Already William Moffet Drive, which links the city’s prime decentralised business node of Newtown Park with the upmarket and predominantly residential suburb of Walmer, is steadily attracting businesses.

“With Mercedes, East Cape Motors, Volkswagen and Honda all lining up their new motor showrooms along William Moffet Drive, it is set to become the gleaming face of the city’s economic life-blood – the motor industry.”

He says these motor groups, keen on capitalising on the many advantages of being situated close to other businesses and near to a desirable consumer market, are organically creating a comparative retail showroom node which is also being supported by other big-box showroom retailers.

The William Moffet stretch has also been re-invigorated with a number of retail outlets and shopping centres.

While the Port Elizabeth area has shown a limited demand for industrial development, with the northern parts of the city being more popular, Katz notes that this has not been the case at Coega. He explains that Coega’s leasehold-only policy effectively restricts property ownership, and for many businesses this is not an attractive proposition.

“These business owners have had to look elsewhere, serving to focus demand to other areas in Port Elizabeth, including the William Moffet hub,” explains Katz.

Andy Collett, manager for Pam Golding Properties (PGP) in the Eastern Cape, Garden Route, Karoo and Kalahari areas, confirms that the William Moffett freeway development area is experiencing a lot of interest currently. “This is driven largely by the various motor franchises who are relocating from the North End area of Port Elizabeth, which was the traditional ‘motor town’ of PE. Some motor dealerships which are currently trading there are expanding their showrooms and service facilities.”

"There is talk of an access park as well as an industrial park with secure warehousing being offered.

Sonja de Necker, manager for JHI in the Eastern Cape, says more than one motor showroom development has started ground works during the first quarter of this year, “and other office developments that stood still for quite some time are now nearing completion and are searching for buyers/tenants”.

“We have the likes of East Cape Motors, Volkswagen and various other motor dealerships starting the development of their new motor show rooms along this road.”

“It seems quite fitting for Port Elizabeth to have these motor dealerships strategically positioning themselves alongside one of the city's main arteries as they are contributing so much to the livelihood of the city’s economy.”

She says as far as offices are concerned, the Moffat Office Park is nearing completion and will be ready for occupation in the next six months. The three-story building consists of 8,300sqm of A-grade offices and ample parking. – Eugene Brink

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