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Hyprop Foundation Launches Charity

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 Hyprop Foundation Launches Charity Drive Honouring Nicole Greenstone’s Life, Supporting Animal Welfare

Initiative Aims to Celebrate Nicole’s Legacy through Community Action and Compassion for Animals.

The Hyprop Foundation’s Warm Woodrock charity drive is currently underway, calling on the public to support animal welfare in loving memory of Nicole Greenstone. Nicole, a cherished colleague and friend, passed away in August 2024. She is remembered not only for her professionalism and warmth but for her profound compassion for animals, which has shaped her life.

This initiative, established by the Hyprop Foundation, was created to keep Nicole’s legacy alive by supporting animal shelters that reflect her values. With this in mind the foundation’s Warm Woodrock project will support Woodrock Animal Rescue, a Gauteng-based shelter known for its hands-on approach to animal care, rehabilitation, and rehoming.

Running until the end of August, the drive invites the public to donate blankets, pet food and essential supplies for dogs, and cats. Branded collection bins are located at five Hyprop shopping centres: Hyde Park Corner, Clearwater Mall, Woodlands Shopping Centre, The Glen Shopping Centre, and Rosebank Mall.

“Our goal is simple,” says Leonie Prinsloo from the Hyprop Foundation. “We honour Nicole by championing a cause she held close to her heart, giving vulnerable animals a second chance at life. Nicole’s compassion was a beacon of hope for both people and pets. By participating in this initiative, you can turn her legacy of kindness into real, life-saving action.”

Each centre is also hosting a live caricature artist on select weekends. Visitors who drop off donations receive a free, personalised sketch of themselves and their pet, a small thank you for helping make a difference. Upcoming caricature artist appearances include 16 August at Clearwater Mall and 23 August at The Glen Shopping Centre.

“Nicole poured her heart into helping those who needed it most, especially animals with no voice of their own, adds Prinsloo. “By supporting Warm Woodrock, you honour Nicole’s legacy and give hope and a future to animals in desperate need. Help us give animals the love and care Nicole gave so freely. Your support truly makes a difference.”

Woodrock Animal Rescue, established in 1992, is one of South Africa’s oldest independent pro-life animal shelters. It is home to hundreds of rescued animals and relies entirely on public support to operate. The partnership with the Hyprop Foundation brings much-needed supplies, awareness, and funding to its mission.

Donation guidelines and a QR code linking directly to Woodrock’s website are available at each collection point, offering digital options for those unable to donate items in person.

The Hyprop Foundation, Hyprop Investments’ Corporate Social Investment arm, is committed to making a meaningful impact in the communities surrounding its shopping centres. The Hyprop Foundation focuses on education and skills development, community upliftment, and enterprise development, and strongly believes in building a better future by investing in people, places, and the planet. Warm Woodrock is a testament to the Hyprop Foundation’s commitment to making a real difference. Partnering with Woodrock Animal Rescue brings its value of compassion and community to life.

Join us in honouring Nicole’s legacy and making a real difference for animals in need. Visit any participating Hyprop retail centre or scan the QR code at donation bins to find out how you can support Warm Woodrock.

Growthpoint x Fuel Switch

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Growthpoint x Fuel Switch: a new benchmark in the global green economy that opens REC markets for SA Inc

 Growthpoint Properties (JSE: GRT) is giving a massive boost to Africa’s first open blockchain-enabled Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) exchange, Fuel Switch, while unlocking certified clean energy trading for tenants when its e-co2 green energy initiative goes live on October 2025.

Wheeled green energy is available for daily business in South Africa from October

Growthpoint’s e-co₂ will deliver its first green electrons to 10 Sandton office buildings in October, with hydropower wheeled over the national grid from the Boston Hydroelectric Plant, newly developed in the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme in partnership with Serengeti Energy. The e-co2 roll-out puts Growthpoint well ahead in bringing certified renewable energy into daily business use. e-co2 wheeled green electricity is cost competitive for Growthpoint tenants and has a zero-carbon footprint, so they can save money and advance their sustainability goals.

Growthpoint has a long-standing track record in sustainable property innovation. For e-co2, the company signed a 195GWh Power Purchase Agreement with Etana Energy in 2023, securing a mix of hydro, wind and solar power. This energy underpins Growthpoint’s pioneering e-co₂ solution, which delivers wheeled renewable electricity directly to commercial buildings and their tenants.

But the real breakthrough lies in how this energy is certified, tracked and monetised for Growthpoint’s tenants. To deliver this capability as part of a growing suite of high-impact business-enabling tenant benefits, Growthpoint partnered with Fuel Switch, a blockchain-based energy tech platform and recent winner of the Agence Française de Développement’s Digital Energy Challenge.

Partnering for innovative green energy certification

Fuel Switch’s platform certifies the electricity as green using IoT, blockchain and AI, providing independent third-party verification in an innovative manner. Once certified, the green energy benefit is recorded on a digital certificate.

Each REC confirms that one megawatt-hour of renewable energy has been generated and supplied to the national grid. The RECs are stored on the blockchain as a digital asset. Each is time-stamped and linked to a renewable energy source.

Think of it like this: when a solar panel generates electricity, it creates two things – actual power, and a certificate that says, “this power came from a clean, renewable source”.

Certified green energy: a valuable new currency for business

 Corporates have come under increasing pressure to meet net-zero and ESG commitments. On top of this, sustainability reporting is increasingly carrying the same weight and scrutiny as financial reporting.

RECs can be redeemed for certified reduction of Scope 2 Carbon emissions. Fuel Switch integrates directly with South Africa’s national REC registry, zaRECs, as well as the global I-REC standard governed by the I-TRACK Foundation. Its blockchain platform provides an immutable record for each REC from issuance to retirement, which ensures auditability aligned with global ESG standards.

What’s more, with South Africa’s constrained economic growth, businesses are under immense pressure to grow and find new revenue streams. RECs can be monetised by selling them on the voluntary REC market where rights to green electricity are sought after.

Large companies — Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta — are a driving a surging demand for RECS as they seek to reach 100% renewable electricity for their operations.

Until now, Africa’s participation in the voluntary RECs market has been limited. High costs, slow manual processes and opaque trading made it accessible to only the largest-scale projects.

That changes in October 2025.

When e-co2 goes live, Fuel Switch will enable Growthpoint tenants of all sizes to access this new market.

 Green energy trading made simple for Growthpoint tenants

What makes this collaboration unique is the functionality pioneered and developed by the partnership, which integrates Fuel Switch directly into Growthpoint’s property portfolio, green energy data and IT systems. The innovation lies in blockchain smart contracts that use IoT devices and business logic to bring all stakeholders together with a digital handshake.

As e-co2 rolls out from October, participating tenants in select Growthpoint buildings will have their smart electricity meter consumption data automatically sent for verification, and the corresponding RECs will be issued directly into secure digital wallets. These wallets are free for Growthpoint tenants and accessed through the Fuel Switch Exchange platform, allowing tenants to access, manage and deploy their RECs based on business needs. They can redeem them to lower emissions or sell them for additional revenue.

This makes Growthpoint the first to offer a commercial-scale, wheeled renewable electricity solution where renewable energy use is certified at the building level and the benefits are made available to tenants in a verified, auditable format.

Fuel Switch’s elegant innovation behind the scenes

Fuel Switch explains that an elegant system of automated actions executes predetermined smart contract rules embedded a secure blockchain data base. The result? Green energy that is independently certified with the highest level of trust and transparency and direct access to an evolving trading market that is usually inaccessible to all but the biggest players due to high participation costs.

With Fuel Switch, transactions that previously took weeks can now settle virtually instantly. Its smart contract technology is a much more cost-effective way to transact leading to marginal fees. Its infrastructure is capable of handling over 10,000 transactions per second, and it is already trusted by major corporates in South Africa.

Democratising the green economy

Werner van Antwerpen, Growthpoint’s Head: Corporate Advisory, says the platform opens new doors, “It is a game-changer for how businesses can participate in clean energy markets and carbon reduction reporting. By combining our e-co2 wheeled green electricity property portfolio with Fuel Switch’s blockchain technology, we’re opening the green energy market to businesses of all sizes, creating measurable environmental impact and generating real financial value.”

 Gideon Maasz, COO of Fuel Switch, adds: “Our mission is to make participation in the green economy easier, quicker, more cost effect and more transparent. Our partnership with Growthpoint accelerates this goal. With blockchain as the backbone, every REC is verifiable, tradeable, and audit-ready, fully aligned with evolving IFRS sustainability reporting standards.”

 While both e-co2 and the Fuel Switch integration support Growthpoint’s long-term environmental goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its portfolio by 2050, the implications are much, much bigger. These solutions are built around Growthpoint’s tenants — thousands of businesses, big and small, in all sectors of South Africa’s economy.

More than that, understanding that a vibrant and healthy green energy market is crucial for energy security and job creation, the development Fuel Switch has undertaken with Growthpoint will expand the green economy for others too. As an open platform, Fuel Switch can be used by any business or individual, globally.

Spear REIT’s Acquisition of Maynard Mall

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Spear REIT Expands Western Cape Retail Footprint with Acquisition of Maynard Mall

Spear REIT Limited (JSE: SEA), South Africa’s only regionally focused REIT, has announced the acquisition of Maynard Mall, a 25,969m² convenience shopping centre located in Wynberg, Cape Town. The R455 million transaction further reinforces Spear’s hyper-local investment strategy, targeting high-growth nodes across the Western Cape.

The acquisition aligns with Spear’s objective to grow its portfolio of well-located, high-quality convenience retail assets within the Western Cape. Maynard Mall, centrally located in Wynberg, Cape Town, is a convenience-orientated community shopping centre anchored by Shoprite, with a strong tenant mix comprising 70% national retailers — including Ackermans, Absa Bank, Clicks, Capitec Bank, KFC, Hungry Lion, Nedbank, Pep, Sportscene, and Zone Fitness — as well as essential services such as the Department of Home Affairs and local traders. The centre caters to both daily and weekly shopping needs, drawing from a broad residential catchment area and the commuter market, with an annualised footfall of 6 million shoppers.

“This acquisition is a pivotal extension of our retail footprint in Cape Town’s established Wynberg node,” said Quintin Rossi, CEO of Spear REIT. “It deepens our exposure to resilient consumer retail trade and enhances our income stability profile, supported by a weighted average lease expiry of 57 months.”

The anticipated transfer date is 1 January 2026, with the acquisition being funded through a combination of cash from Spear’s recent R 749 million capital raise and secured debt facilities. The transaction is set to deliver an initial yield of 9.55%, with an additional R20 million earmarked for medium-term capital expenditure. Spear has identified asset enhancement capital expenditure measures of up to R 20 million to be carried out over a three to five-year period to enhance the value proposition of Maynard Mall. These items include the potential increase in the self-storage offering, future expansion of the PV solar installation, modernisation of selected lifts, escalators, HVAC equipment and mechanical installations. Assuming the full asset enhancement capital expenditure is accounted for on the transfer date, the post capex, stabilised yield would be 9.15% – 9.3%.

“Spear has actively pursued growth opportunities in Cape Town’s convenience retail sector — on terms that aligned with its strategic and financial criteria; requiring management to remain patient, selective, and firmly committed to its investment strategy,” Rossi continued. “Today’s announcement gives credence to our approach.”

The transaction is subject to the approval by the Competition Commission. Once implemented, Spear’s retail portfolio will increase to approximately R1.4 billion in value, comprising 81,205m² in gross lettable area.

In addition to Maynard Mall, Spear recently announced the acquisition of Consani Industrial Park for R437 million. Following the implementation of both transactions, Spear’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is projected to be 28%, well below the company’s target range of 38%–43%, providing sufficient capacity for future growth opportunities.

These recent transactions follow the successful integration of Spear’s R1.15 billion Western Cape portfolio acquisition in October 2024, which expanded the group’s asset base to R5.5 billion and delivered 97% occupancy at FY2025 year-end. Following the implementation of the Maynard Mall and Consani Industrial Park acquisitions, Spear’s total asset base is expected to increase to R6.6 billion. Notably, Maynard Mall also includes a 924 kWp solar plant, supporting Spear’s sustainability strategy by contributing to energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

“Building on our strong FY2025 performance and positive momentum into FY2026, we remain focused on executing our Western Cape strategy — targeting high quality assets in established nodes underpinned by robust leasing and real estate fundamentals,” concluded Rossi.

Spear will continue to focus on measured growth across the Western Cape, with a focus on retail, commercial, and industrial assets that align with its long-term investment strategy.

Spear Strengthens Industrial Portfolio with Key Acquisition

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Spear REIT Limited (JSE: SEA), South Africa’s only regionally focused Real Estate Investment Trust, has announced via SENS the acquisition of Consani Industrial Park, located in the established industrial hub of Elsie’s River Industria, Western Cape. The acquisition, valued at R437.3 million, marks another significant step in Spear’s ongoing expansion of its Western Cape industrial property portfolio.

Quintin Rossi, CEO of Spear, highlighted that the acquisition aligns with the company’s strategy to build a resilient and high-growth portfolio of industrial assets within the Western Cape, a region that continues to demonstrate strong economic fundamentals. “The Western Cape is the essence of our long-term growth strategy. We remain highly selective in our acquisitions, and Consani Industrial Park offers a prime location with a proven track record of stability and future growth potential. This asset adds meaningful scale, long-dated income profiles and quality to our portfolio and reaffirms our ongoing commitment to the industrial sector.”

Consani Industrial Park, situated on a 10.64-hectare erf, comprises a total gross lettable area (GLA) of 80,657 m² and is multi-let to a diverse range of industrial tenants, underpinned by long-term lease tenures. The property is strategically situated within a secure and established industrial precinct that continues to attract large-format occupiers, due to its proximity to key transport routes, reliable energy infrastructure, and organic growth potential.

The transaction supports Spear’s broader strategy of acquiring income-producing assets in proven nodes, offering both yield enhancement and long-term value creation. The acquisition was concluded at an initial yield of 9.71%, with additional value to be unlocked through a planned R34 million capital investment program over the next five years, focused on operational optimisation and strategic enhancements.

According to Rossi, Spear’s regional focus has been instrumental in identifying and executing this strategic acquisition. “We have a hands-on, laser-focused team dedicated to driving our growth strategy. Our approach is to be patient and selective when choosing assets that align with our investment objectives. We are committed to ensuring that each acquisition is the right fit, delivering long-term sustainable income and value for our shareholders.”

The acquisition will be funded through a combination of debt facilities and available cash reserves, following Spear’s successful private placement, which was concluded in June 2025.

The addition of Consani Industrial Park further reinforces Spear’s strategic footprint in the Western Cape, a region characterised by robust demand, positive economic drivers and resilient real estate fundamentals.

“Spear remains committed to building a defensive portfolio that delivers both stability and future growth. Through measured expansion and active asset management, with a focus on retail, commercial, and industrial assets that align with our long-term investment criteria, we aim to create sustainable value. With the forthcoming addition of Berg River Business Park in Paarl and Consani Industrial Park in Elsies River Industria, both subject to competition commission approvals, we are confident that Spear’s continued investments across the Western Cape will deliver strong returns for our shareholders,” concluded Rossi.

Meet Emira’s New CEO: James Day

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Following the announcement of his appointment in May, James Day has formally assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer at Emira Property Fund (JSE: EMI), one of South Africa’s most established diversified real estate investment trusts (REITs). Day has served as a non-executive director of Emira since October 2023 and now moves into executive leadership with first-hand knowledge of the business’s strengths, priorities and market position.

“Emira is a business with strong fundamentals, a clear strategy and a highly capable incumbent executive team. It is positioned for continued, sustainable value creation,” says Day.

Day joins Emira’s leadership team alongside long-serving executives Ulana van Biljon, Chief Operating Officer, and Greg Booyens, Chief Financial Officer.

A Chartered Accountant with a strong foundation in finance and real assets, Day brings extensive local and international experience to the role. As a CA(SA), his career began in audit and finance with BDO/Grant Thornton in South Africa and the United States, and went on to include roles at Brookfield Asset Management and Elanor Investors Group in Australia.

Cape Town-born and bred, he returned to South Africa to work in the property sector, including as CFO of Botswanan-listed RDC Properties, which secured the successful takeover of Tower Property Fund during his tenure. Most recently, he served as Financial Director at Castleview Property Fund.

Outside the boardroom, Day enjoys the outdoors, travelling and long-distance running.

With an agile mindset and a focus on outcomes, Day brings a practical, adaptable and long-term approach to his new role. A systems thinker, he values foresight and risk mitigation, and works to cut through complexity and unlock performance efficiently and enduringly.

“What excites me about Emira is the strength of the team, the quality of the platform and the opportunity to keep delivering value by doing the foundational things right and sharpening our strategic edge where it matters most,” says Day. “Emira’s strategy remains consistent: keeping our capital productive through diligent asset management, disciplined capital recycling and continued value-accretive investment with the goal of meaningful stakeholder value creation.”

Hyprop’s dominant retail centres maintain their growth trajectory

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Hyprop, the JSE-listed specialist retail fund, reported strong performance for the five months ended 31 May 2025. In its pre-close update, the Group expressed satisfaction with the significant progress it has made so far, positioning itself for further growth in the near to medium term.

“Our sturdy performance during the period reflects the dominance and resilience of our portfolios in South Africa and Eastern Europe despite geopolitical challenges,” CEO Morné Wilken said. “We continue to look beyond the short term for organic and new growth opportunities to deliver value for all our stakeholders.

“In line with our growth and diversification strategy, we recently announced our intention to make a voluntary offer for a controlling stake in MAS plc to expand our footprint in the Eastern European market, for which we have raised R808 million via a book build. We believe the MAS plc transaction could be a game changer for Hyprop and will give us access to new countries in the region, namely Romania and Poland. However, before proceeding with the transaction, we must meet certain conditions, with one key condition being approval from our shareholders.

“If this transaction does not proceed, we can effectively deploy these funds into reducing debt in the short term, as well as for asset management initiatives, organic growth opportunities, further solar-PV projects and new investments within Hyprop’s expansion strategy.”

Hyprop is strongly positioned to make investments, with R1.2 billion of cash and R2.2 billion in available bank facilities, after receipt of the capital raise proceeds. The cash injection took the LTV ratio down from 36.3% at 31 December 2024 to 34.2%.

Since the Group embarked on its new strategic journey in 2019, it has made significant progress, including optimising its EE portfolio, settling dollar equity debt in the sub-Saharan Africa portfolio, and selling the sub-Saharan Africa portfolio in return for shares in Lango, a pan-African real estate investment company. In the same period, Hyprop reduced its LTV from a peak of 52%, shaved its euro equity debt from €403 million to €87 million, simplified its structure, improved its credit rating, and continuously invested in enhancing the attractiveness and sustainability of its centres in South Africa and Eastern Europe.

SA and EE centres maintain attractiveness

In the South African portfolio, tenant turnover rose 7% in the five months ended 31 May 2025 compared with the same period in 2024 while trading density increased by 10.2%. At 31 May 2025, retail vacancies were 3.9%, primarily due to Edgars’ rightsizing its stores in the portfolio, which provides flexibility to secure new tenancies to meet shoppers’ demands. The weighted average reversion rate remains in positive territory at 2.9%, and the retail new deal reversion rate was very pleasing at 13.5%.

All the centres have made good progress with letting and projects. Here are some of the highlights:

In the Western Cape, Canal Walk is pleased to see that Edgars is performing well in the new rightsized space, which includes a world-class fragrance and cosmetics offering. Overall, leasing activity has been positive, with office demand increasing significantly. At Somerset Mall, the Phase 2 expansion of the centre is progressing well, and terms have been agreed with several stores which will occupy the expanded area, including Game, Computer Mania, Total Sports, a variety of athleisure and affordable luxury brands such as New Balance, Burnt, Curve Gear, and Napapijri, an international outdoor apparel brand. At CapeGate, the development of satellite offices around the centre on a leasehold basis is still in the early stages, but it is gaining traction and already attracting potential tenants.

In Gauteng, Rosebank Mall enhanced its tenant mix by adding six new stores: Cannafrica, One Stop Travel & Tours, Drip4Life (IV drip experts), Glow Theory (Korean beauty store), John Craig and Cajees (a watch and accessories retailer). Hyde Park Corner will be significantly enhanced in August with the opening of a new Checkers FreshX store. At Woodlands, the Pick n Pay supermarket has rightsized from 5 600m² to 3 636m² and a new lease agreement has been signed with a franchisee. The Glen completed its egress and ingress project in April and is currently refurbishing its exterior signage.

In Eastern Europe, tenant turnover increased by 3.5% and trading density rose by 4.0%, despite a decline in foot count of -3.3% mainly due to non-trading Sundays in Croatia and recent store boycotts related to rising food prices. Despite these challenges, tenant demand remains robust, as reflected in the modest 0.1% vacancy rate at 31 May 2025.

In Croatia, City Center one East and City Center one West continued to broaden their retail offerings. At The Mall in Bulgaria, various projects have been completed to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of the centre: upgrading the lighting system, replacing the water meters to enable remote reading, and replacing the roof structures over the parking ramps with more durable material. Recent highlights at Skopje City Mall include the grand openings of Ehoreca, the official Nespresso reseller in North Macedonia, and the new Gerry Weber mono-brand store that opened in February 2025.

Enhancing energy, water and waste resilience

Hyprop is focusing on solar-PV installations at its centres and is taking the necessary steps to add a further phase at The Glen. Meanwhile, CapeGate, Somerset Mall and Canal Walk are beginning their initial phases of solar projects. In June 2025, the Group will issue a request for proposals to the energy wheeling market to enhance both existing and new solar-PV installations. Once these solar-PV and wheeling energy projects are completed, they are expected to supply more than 60% of the SA portfolio’s energy requirements. Additionally, the total carbon emissions of the SA portfolio, relative to the 2019 baseline which was aligned with Science-Based Targets, will be below the carbon reduction targets set for 2030.

The three-day backup tanks and pumps for potable water have been installed at all Gauteng centres, with similar initiatives set to start soon in the Western Cape. The organic waste recycling initiatives have proven highly effective, with five centres (Canal Walk, CapeGate, Somerset Mall, The Glen and Woodlands) achieving net zero waste status.

Looking ahead

“Our focus is on creating retail spaces that connect people by providing excellent retail experiences for our tenants and shoppers while unlocking value through initiatives within our existing portfolios in South Africa and Eastern Europe,” Wilken said.

“We will continue to pursue both new and organic growth opportunities in our preferred geographies (being the Western Cape and Eastern Europe), reposition the SA and EE portfolios to maintain their dominance and retain and grow market share, annually review our portfolios and recycle capital where appropriate, implement sustainable solutions to reduce the impact of the infrastructure challenges we face in South Africa, and ensure our balance sheet remains robust.

“Hyprop is confident of delivering strong growth in the coming financial year through improved operational performance of its portfolios, including benefits from solar and other energy projects anticipated to come on stream, a reduction in interest costs and the benefits from deploying the additional R808 million of capital, even in the absence of the MAS transaction,” Wilken added.

Hyprop expects to release its results for the six months to 30 June 2025 on or about 16 September 2025.