John Jack, CEO of Galetti Corporate Real Estate, tells the OFM Business Hour the Georgiou family still owns substantive properties in Bloemfontein, despite the decision to restructure their property portfolio which doesn’t sit only in the Free State capital. 

According to Galetti, the Georgiou family led by Michael owns prime real estate like Fourways Mall and Cedar Square located in Gauteng and a hospitality property in the Western Cape. 

In total 41 properties in various parts of the country will be auctioned off by Galetti on 14 September. This landmark auction will be made up mostly of the Georgiou's properties. 

Which buildings are being auctioned off in Bloemfontein? 

 Landmark buildings on sale include:

• Sanlam’s Bloemfontein headquarters;
• The Windmill Casino (hotel only);
• A Honda Dealership, Rosebank College;
• 76 Kellner Street;
• The RTT Distribution Centre – a prime industrial asset which is also home to Pepkore and Xeon Logistics;
• Ben Ludick Building, 107 Nelson Mandela Drive;
• Penbel Building, 29 Merriam Makeba Street;
• 37 Fichardt Street;
• 96 Mega Park, Curie Avenue, amongst others.

Why the hotel portion of the Windmill Casino? 

The CEO of Galetti Corporate Real Estate said only the hotel portion of the Windmill Casino is being sold off because the family doesn’t own the casino and restaurant area. That belongs to Sun International. The Georgious only own the hotel and the adjacent petrol station. It is likely that Sun International will scoop the hotel when it goes on auction.

John Jack, CEO of Galetti Corporate Real Estate

Auction gains traction – date moved from August to September

The auction was initially slated for 31 August, but owing to the growing interest, the Galetti Auction team decided to move it to 14 September to allow prospective buyers to get the necessary approval and paperwork ready for the auction. The deferment also allows for the Galetti team to be adequately prepared for the mammoth event. The auction will be streamed live to the public from Johannesburg. It will begin at 12:00.

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“We literally went through all the assets individually to decide which ones would catch the attention of the market and selected a few of each category: student residential conversions, industrials, prime office and retail,” explained Jack.

ALSO READ: Georgiou patriarch was optimistic about SA’s future

Restructuring/rebalancing of a property portfolio happens all the time 

When asked if a restructuring or rebalancing exercise of this magnitude is an anomaly or is commonplace, he points to the latter. “Rebalancing or restructuring of a portfolio is something that listed funds do all the time,” he explained. There is seemingly a move towards focusing on a single asset class and selling off the rest of a portfolio for better gains in the market.

OFM Business Hour