INLSA
Hamish Erskine, the property executive at Dube TradePort, centre, celebrates the deal with Pran Shree, the CEO of the Shree Property Group, right, and Miles Taylor, the property executive of Standard Bank. Picture: Jacques Naude
Dube TradePort has secured its first private sector investment – a R350 million development by the Durban-based Shree Property Group into a new 100 000m2 air freight logistics and warehousing facility at its TradeZone.
The deal, signed last week, was revealed exclusively to The Mercury last week on the sidelines of the launch of the second phase of development in the multibillion-rand project by President Jacob Zuma.
Dube TradePort, which is home to the King Shaka International Airport, is being developed as a major air freight trade gateway and future “aerotropolis” or “airport city” at La Mercy, north of Durban, over the next few decades.
Hamish Erskine, the property executive at Dube TradePort, said the deal with the Shree Property Group was significant and timely.
“It comes as we launch the second phase of development and is a major land leasing deal that will see a huge logistics and warehousing facility being built at the TradeZone near Dube TradePort’s Cargo Terminal. It’s an exciting development that will support our plans and represents our first private sector property deal signed,” he said.
Erskine said the deal was particularly significant in the current economic environment and he believed it could spur further private sector investment into Dube TradePort’s various property projects.
“We have 23ha of land earmarked for development at the TradeZone in the first phase, but there is also the Dube City development, which is expected to attract more than R5 billion in investment over the next decade,” he said.
Pran Shree, the CEO of Shree Property Group, said the company was a major player in the sector in KwaZulu-Natal, owning about 250 000m2 of industrial and warehousing property close to the prime Durban Port area.
“Our investment into Dube TradePort will complement our business and other properties. We are one of the biggest players in citrus export through our facilities near the Durban harbour. Therefore, our investment here (in Dube TradePort) is a strategic one. It will add value to our business, by allowing us to build our presence in the air freight logistics business,” he said.
Shree said he strongly believed in the vision of Dube TradePort to establish the port as the continent’s air freight trade gateway of the future.
“It’s a visionary plan that we fully support, that’s why we are investing here. It will establish KwaZulu-Natal as the first truly multimodal trade hub on the continent. We have the biggest container port in Durban and Richards Bay deals with bulk cargos. Greater co-ordination between these harbour ports and Dube TradePort could make KZN a mega global player in trade logistics,” he said.
Miles Taylor, a KZN property executive at Standard Bank, the bankers of the Shree Property Group, said the deal was significant. He said it highlighted the potential of Dube TradePort and the north Durban development corridor.
KZN Premier Zweli Mkhize said the long-term strategic objective of the Dube TradePort project was the establishment of an “aerotropolis” north of Durban, stretching from uMhlanga to Ballito. Last year The Mercury revealed that the mammoth project would see hotels, office blocks, retail, entertainment and other commercial developments coming up around the airport in coming years.
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