By Denise Mhlanga
The Covid-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for investors with cash to snap up property assets at low prices. This is thanks to sellers offloading non-performing assets.
JSE-listed Sun International – a gaming and hospitality group is selling Sun Carousel. The property, one of South Africa’s oldest and most popular casinos and entertainment centres, opened in 1991.
The property is located north of Pretoria, and measures in excess of 583ha. It comprises of vacant land site, a casino, hotel, residential and game farm with redevelopment opportunities.
It has 369 apartments, 57 hotel rooms and 55,000m2 of retail opportunity. Currently, the residential portion is still operational and partially tenanted.
Attractive pricingÂ

According to John Jack, CEO of Galetti Corporate Real Estate, pricing is based on the discovery model, hence there is no asking price.
The guide price on the property is R200 million – its owners are hoping to get north of this price, and the municipal valuation as listed on the property brochure is R529 million. Unfortunately for buyers eyeing gambling for revenue, the license has been sold off. Interested buyers have until 30 October 2020 to put an offer.
According to Craig Smith, head of research at Anchor Stockbrokers the property will not be valued based on traditional property metrics. As a result of the lack of a gambling license, any investor needs to do thorough due diligence before buying.
The guide price is well below replacement value cost. Any developer purchasing this asset would be snapping up a steal on this asset, says Jack.
“We have seen significant transactional activity in the market where investors with strong balance sheets look to identify opportunities at prices well below where they would have traded in the past.”
Its expected to sell to a consortium of investors where each applies their specific skill set, adds Jack.