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Atterbury conquers Europe

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Atterbury Europe is on everyone’s lips… The recent announcement of Atterbury Europe’s first big transaction on the Continent made headlines in both the South African as well as Cypriot newspapers and television over the past weeks.

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It’s a deal! Henk Deist, CFO Atterbury Europe and “old man” Nicolas Shacolas seal the deal in Nicosia, capital city of Cyprus

Atterbury Europe represents an exciting new partnership between Atterbury and a group of European investors. It will also partner with JSE-listed real estate capital growth fund Attacq Limited to tap into this market.

Atterbury Europe will develop and invest in shopping centres on the Continent with an immediate focus on fast-developing Eastern European markets. The first major deal, a landmark investment in a €200-million retail portfolio in Cyprus was signed last week. The Mall of Cyprus is a leading retail destination of 55 600m² in the heart of Nicosia, the capital City of Cyprus. A second mall, The Mall of Engomi — an extremely successful 18 000m² retail centre located in a densely populated residential area with plenty of expansion and revitalisation potential — forms part of this landmark deal.

According to Louis van der Watt, CEO Atterbury Group:

“Atterbury Europe is a partnership designed for great things with our European investors’ excellent knowledge of Europe’s retail and property markets, and unique local market insight coupled with Atterbury’s experience in delivering successful retail property assets across territories and continents. We are excited about the investment opportunities this powerful partnership creates and look forward to expanding our investment footprint in Europe.”

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Back: Martin Olivier, Panos Labropoulos, George Chrysaphinis, Marios Shacolas, Pambos Ioannides, Christakis Charalambous, Nicolas Shacolas and Marios Panayides Front: George Mitsides, Demetris Demetriou, Henk Deist and George Aniliades
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Atterbury Property Fund LOGO

Atterbury Property Fund launches 1 July

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After much anticipation, we are incredibly privileged to announce today’s launch of the new Atterbury Group real estate development fund. This new fund will become the holding company for a number of Atterbury’s quality property assets. A strategic BEE deal is also on the radar.

Louis van der Watt, CEO of the Atterbury Group, says: “Atterbury Property Fund will take Atterbury confidently into the future. We are excited to be taking the next step in our journey.”

Atterbury has earned an enviable reputation for creating and growing property funds. Most recently, JSE-listed real estate capital growth fund Attacq grew out of the Atterbury stable. Atterbury Property Fund is Atterbury’s next chapter and Van der Watt and Atterbury’s employees will be among the shareholders in the fund.

Starting as an unlisted fund, Atterbury Property Fund will launch with assets valued at R2 billion. The fund will also have an immediate development pipeline with potential to double this value with top quality assets, distinguished by the quality design and function that the market has come to know and trust from Atterbury.

The current portfolio is predominantly high-end retail, with some exposure to AAA-grade commercial offices. Our aim is to triple the fund’s asset value over the next five years. This could be achieved through leveraging Atterbury’s proven track record and networks, as well as through strategic partnerships – true to Atterbury’s slogan, It’s a matter of association.

Atterbury’s shareholding in the following assets will be held within the Atterbury Property Fund: The Grove – Mall of Namibia (52 089m²), Bagatelle – Mall of Mauritius (46 225m²), The Falls retail development in Roodepoort (10 341m²), Bela Mall (17 294m²) and the Riverwalk Office Park (12 000m²) tenanted by Deloitte. New and future developments included in the pipeline are the prestigious BAT building at the V&A Waterfront and the new KPMG building in Pretoria.

This unique development fund will, in the Atterbury spirit, take advantage of property investment opportunities where it can create and add value with its leading-edge property and asset management expertise.

The fund’s long-term approach will mean shareholders won’t receive distributions for the first few years. Atterbury Property Fund is investing for the long term. As a new real estate development fund, it will already have the track record, know-how, experience, relationships and credentials to make a real impact, creating even more opportunities and value for our investors, partners and society, now and in the future.

Gallery

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A showcase with a view

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The expanding Atterbury family has settled into their brand-new state-of-the-art head office in Bloukrans, the final phase of the Lynnwood Bridge development. We provide some behind-the-scenes insight

What prompted the move to a new office?
We have always been housed in Atterbury developments – from our humble start in 1994 in the Glenfield Office Park, then in Lynnwood Bridge from 2011 until the move to Bloukrans at the end of October last year, when phase three of the development was completed. Our neighbours in Lynnwood Bridge, the law firm Adams & Adams, required more space, and the logical solution was the adjacent Atterbury building. Also, we had been expanding and adding new divisions, so we had outgrown our office. The new office has more boardroom space, and it’s the first time that we’re in a high-rise building, showcasing the kind of developments that Atterbury does. Our location on the top floor of the building (we also occupy part of the fourth floor) has panoramic views over leafy Pretoria East, the park which Atterbury re-landscaped and the Alkantrant library which we rebuilt for the city. This really gives a visitor a sense of what this company is all about.

What were the design objectives for the new head office?
Atterbury specialises in commercial and retail development and we wanted our head office to reflect what Atterbury can deliver. After 20 years Atterbury has entered a phase where the size and scale of our projects are increasing exponentially. We always anticipated that Atterbury’s offering would include high-rise buildings – Bloukrans is five stories and our next major one is the 25-story head office block for PWC which is currently under development in Waterfall City. While sophistication and cutting-edge design was very important, we also wanted to retain the welcoming “family” feeling of the company, which is integral to Atterbury.

How was this implemented?
The interior designer Wytske van Wyk worked very closely with our CEO, Louis van der Watt, in determining the look and feel. The interior is similar to our old office, very organic and earthy in feel, complemented by our corporate colour scheme comprising shades of blue and grey. Loads of heavy rough-hewn wood was applied thoughout the layout, such as the huge boardroom tables designed by Pierre Cronje thus providing a corporate and high-end look, combined with a homely feeling which is further enhanced by several comfortable lounge areas. Wall-panel-size art photographs of Atterbury developments serve as decoration, showcasing the company’s work. The office was effectively designed to provide each division its own space. We offer our personnel an amazing canteen on the top floor that opens up onto an entertainment area that overlooks the park. Visitors step out of the lift into the hearty reception area  to the aroma of freshly Barista brewed coffee and the heartbeat of the Atterbury vibe.

We imagine the boss must have an amazing corner office!
Ironically, not so! Louis is not the “showpiece office” type, he doesn’t even have a dedicated allocated space. You’ll see him working here, then there… always hands on, leading the team from in their midst.

How has the new office been received?
The feedback has been great, from the Atterbury team and from visitors and tenants. GrootFM moved in on the first floor and they also love their new office. Next door in the Kaaimans building we have Citadel, Peregrine and the Wealth Corporation as tenants. We like surrounding ourselves with likeminded people, and can’t wait to welcome more tenants into Bloukrans and Kaaimans! It’s a matter of association…

It’s been years since the first phase of the development was started; did anything change from the original plans to when Bloukrans was finished?
Originally the plan was to build penthouse apartments on the top floor, but as time passed, Atterbury’s focus further increased on commercial and retail space and it was decided to rather turn the planned penthouses into office space.

Finally, why the name Bloukrans?
It was named after the Bloukrans Bridge near Tsitsikamma. Pierre Cronje, whose dad was actually one of the engineers working on the construction of the bridge, made us a boardroom table that was roughly based on the bridge’s design. The bridge connection is also not coincidental, considering the names of some of our developments: Lynnwood Bridge, Kaaimans (Kaaimans River Bridge), Bloukrans, Brooklyn Bridge. We also literally build bridges joining buildings, joining developments, bridges over or under highways to allow access to our shopping developments. Atterbury builds bridges…

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Atterbury Property celebrates 20 years of great business

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One of South Africa’s most esteemed property businesses, the Atterbury Group, celebrates 20 years of successful operation at the same time as the country marks two decades of democracy in South Africa.

Twenty years after its founding, Atterbury, the driving force behind a growing number of SA’s landmark commercial property developments, continues to build quality properties and deliver performance for its investors.

Atterbury’s business is conducted through two main companies: Atterbury Property Holdings for developments and, for investment, Attacq Limited, which successfully listed on the JSE in October 2013. Atterbury now comprises about 58 trading companies. Together Atterbury and Attacq have over 150 employees and offices in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Mauritius.

However, Atterbury wasn’t always the property power-house it is today. It has grown from humble roots. Louis van der Watt and Francois van Niekerk formed Atterbury in 1994, at the same time that SA’s democracy was born.

Louis is a natural entrepreneur. His first property transaction was at the tender age of eleven. He convinced his parents to loan him money to purchase, and immediately resell at a profit, a holiday timeshare property.

From a young age, Louis was fascinated by buildings – their design and location. He met Francois van Niekerk as an article clerk for Deloitte at Francois’s computer business, Infotech. Francois had recently developed his first building and had more land available.

Humble beginnings

When completing his articles in 1994, Louis joined Francois to form Atterbury Property Group with capital well below R1 million. For five years, Louis and Francois were Atterbury’s only employees.

The founders each held a 33% share in Atterbury, and 34% was held by the Atterbury Trust. This started a generous distribution of ownership in the company and an energetic involvement with disadvantaged communities.

Louis recalls: “Our biggest challenge initially was funding. Fortunately Francois’s strong balance sheet secured Atterbury’s early developments.”

From the outset, building and owning buildings was a key focus for Atterbury to ensure development profits and long-term capital gain.

“Our first development was the office of the Auditor-General in Brooklyn, Pretoria. As the portfolio expanded, new funding was hedged using already completed buildings as security,” explains Louis.

In 2002, Atterbury co-founded Attfund, an unlisted regional shopping centre fund of which it owned 43%. Attfund was sold to Hyprop in 2011.

Taking a confident approach

Challenging economic circumstances emerged for the SA property sector with the global economic crisis in 2008. Banks were withholding development funding. Despite this, Atterbury secured a R1.3 billion loan – the biggest for a private developer at the time – to develop Lynnwood Bridge.

Contrary to the defensive strategies many companies adopted at this time, Atterbury took a proactive, innovative approach and concluded the largest property transaction in SA to date. “In 2008, Atterbury also acquired 1,730,000sqm of commercial property development rights at Waterfall, which will provide a consistent pipeline of development profit for at least the next decade, with 1,400,000sqm of developable bulk available,” notes Louis.

Its focused, aggressive approach to property development, supported by innovation, creativity and a strong entrepreneurial spirit makes Atterbury SA’s leading property developer, even in challenging markets.

“The global economic climate, slow SA growth, increasing interest rates, declining consumer spending and challenges surrounding government policy motivated Atterbury to expand its focus to attractive regions on the African continent and Europe,” explains Louis.

Pioneering new markets

Atterbury has led the way for property development in other African countries. “We’re focused on retail opportunities in African countries outside South Africa,” reports Louis. “Several investors have partnered Atterbury as developer to build a portfolio of prized retail and commercial assets.”

In 2009, Atterbury acquired a 50% stake in the Bagatelle land, Mauritius, where it developed the first regional shopping centre in Mauritius, which opened September 2011.