What to look for when seeking new, alternative or additional office space for your company is not just a matter of using your common sense – which is why there are specialists in the field who are well worth the service fees they charge for doing all the searching and trouble-shooting for you. And of course, the larger your company, the longer the check-list and the greater the challenges.
Everybody who’s anybody in the financial world wants to find offices for rent in Sandton. It’s the financial hub of South Africa, let alone its host city of Johannesburg, and the JSE Securities Exchange has its offices there. In fact, Sandton’s CBD is said to be the wealthiest square mile in Africa.
But that doesn’t mean that office space in Sandton is exclusively for investment banks and financial consultants.
Movers and shakers wanting to make their way in the business world do it in Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s situated in the wealthiest province in the country, so the incentive for business owners to set up and rent out office space there is high.
There is plenty of opportunity amidst a range of style, size and location options and those looking for office space to rent can do so online, faster and easier than ever before. In addition, interest rates show no sign of dropping in the short-term so the property trend at the southern tip of Africa continues to favour rentals.
If you have ever tried to find office space in Johannesburg you’ll know that it can be quite a task. There are several ways of going about it, and until recently the easiest way was to go through the classified advertisements in the Star, Johannesburg’s daily newspaper.
Other sources of information could, and still can, be found in property magazines, business journals and, of course the Yellow Pages. Of course the job didn’t stop there
Like many other countries South Africa was forced into a recession by the world financial crisis, which in turn, affected the commercial real estate market. Notwithstanding the effects of the economic disorder all over the world, South Africa's banking sector remained secure, and the country’s infrastructure is currently benefiting from buoyant gold prices. The country remains the financial backbone of the whole of Africa. Her close trading connections with the EEC gives her the chance to serve as a manufacturing and export focal point for both Asian and European markets.
Remember the time when looking for office space rentals was such a bind? Not more than a few years ago (remember the days when there was no such thing as the Internet?) it meant a lot of finger walking through the yellow pages, backed up by numerous telephone calls and a lot of wasted shoe leather looking for the exact premises that suited your purposes. What a bind it was! Today, everything has been done for you, and there are numerous property websites through which you can research and indeed reserve office space rentals.
Trying to find office space for rent can by quite demanding. In the past it meant numerous phone calls followed up by trips in the car to inspect the various premises. That, in turn, meant finding parking – have you ever tried to find parking in the Johannesburg or Sandton CBDs? Much of the tedium has been taken away today, thanks to the Internet.
Let’s take a look at the various things that you have to consider before you make that final irreversible decision.
The United Nations as well as the World Bank have predicted that 2012 will be a very tough year. While the market was not surprised by the announcements, investors are desperately seeking a silver lining. Property investors in the retail as well as the commercial sector are under pressure and some good news is always welcome. But what does 2012 hold in store?