Infrasors seeks turn on property

Cape Town – Building supplies specialist, Infrasors Holdings [JSE:IRA], has proposed developing a sizeable residential development on part of its Pienaarspoort property where production has ceased.

According to an announcement on Friday, Infrasors has earmarked over 150 hectares of Portion 55 of its Pienaarspoort farm for development.

Infrasor – which produces sand, bricks and aggregate - indicated that the property development would not be undertaken ‘in-house’, but that appropriate partners would be sought to implement the property development.

The conversion of industrial land for property development is not a new trend.

A number of large industrial and mining companies listed on the JSE (such as AECI and Tongaat Hulett) have made excellent turns on non-core property development activities in the past.

Infrasors uses the Pienaarspoort land to mine alluvial silica and currently houses a crushing plant on the North Eastern part of the property.

However, silica mining operations on the southern eastern side of the property stopped in October 2009.

While the idea of turning idle land into a development property is intriguing, Infrasors provided no details on the cost of the exercise or how much value could be added to the company through the exercise.

Infrasors, though, has already commissioned a town planning feasibility study and the company’s planners are now drawing up a development framework plan.

The feasibility study suggested 103 hectares of residential development with 19 hectares set aside for ‘alternative uses’.

The residential portion will be mainly freehold (around 70% of the development) with 15% set aside for medium density development and 15% for high density development.

 -  Fin24.com