Johannesburg — THE highlight of the Aucor multiple auction held at the Inanda Club yesterday was an A-grade office complex in Pretoria which was knocked down for R47m, but prime industrial properties in Gauteng fared less well.

The auction was notable for a number of huge properties with gross lettable areas as high as nearly 40000m'.

A case in point was what was described as an "enormous" factory, warehouse and offices, forming two adjoining complexes on the corner of Commando, Price and Nobel streets in Industria West, Johannesburg.

The complexes, with a neat office component, are let to a strong-listed tenant.

It sold for a rather low price of R24,5m, which auctioneer Eddie Winterstein said was not an adequate price for such a property.

Equally impressive in size is Trio City on Caithness Road, Ophirton. The complex, with a gross lettable area of 28282m', consists of four buildings on four properties with industrial, warehousing, retail and office components. It sold for R13m.

A factory/warehouse in Heriotdale with a gross lettable area of 6920m' sold for R5,25m.

A light industrial facility on a 35000m' stand in Wadeville offered an office-showroom component with a gross lettable of 1800m' and a 1400m' production factory. There is in additional 20000m' of vacant land ready for development. Bidding moved up slowly until the hammer price of R16,5m was reached

In Cleveland, a well-let industrial park on Hospital Street, consisting of four factories with a gross lettable area of 7356m' and a large yard fetched R3,15m.

The main attraction was undoubtedly Rentmeester Park, an A-grade office block on Watermeyer Street, Val de Grace, in Pretoria. The office block, with a gross lettable area of 11863m', is 90% let to government and other blue-chip tenants. An adjoining stand on Rauch Avenue with a gross lettable area of 382m' was sold with the office block, and they fetched a combined R47m.

Smaller retail and residential properties also came under the hammer. A building used for retail and warehousing in the central shopping centre of Stilfontein sold for R900000, and the default re-auction of business premises with a gross lettable area of 620m' in Olivedale fetched R2,2m.

Three shops and 12 apartments in a block on Central Avenue in Mayfair sold for R2,8m.

An interesting building, fully fitted and furnished for restaurant use, with a gross lettable area of 509m', on Voortrekker Road in Brakpan, achieved a hammer price of R800000.

On offer in Midrand was an upmarket office block with a gross lettable area of 778m' in Waterfall Office Park, which was knocked down for R5,25m.

There were no offers for two Craighall Park office blocks on Rothersay Avenue.

Randburg again featured with a double-storey block on Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, Kensington B, and seven individual office buildings in The Palms on Main Road, close to the magistrate's court.

The former, with a gross lettable area of 1604m', sold for R5m. The Palms -- which is fully let with a gross lettable area of 1750m' -- was knocked down for R6,5m.

Rosebank offered what was described as a prestigious double-storey building on Keyes Road. The building, with a gross lettable area of 728m' and exposure to Jan Smuts Avenue, achieved a price of R5,5m.

Two brand new "finish-it-yourself" dwellings in Brooklands Lifestyle Estate in Samrand also came under the hammer.

The one, a 260m' double-storey home with three bedrooms and 2,5 bathrooms sold for R700000; the second, a 180m' three-bedroomed house with two bathrooms, sold for R750000.

Savannah Hills Country Estate, in Sagewood Extension 3 Midrand, had a four-bedroomed house with three bathrooms on offer. The house is designed for open plan living.

It sold for R1,75m.

Low-cost housing land in Mafikeng was an interesting offer.

The proposed development for the 27,4ha property makes allowance for 453 units, a shopping centre, filling station, church and schools.

A winning bid of R2,5m was received for the property.