Plumari Group

Snowballing is not among the notables of South African pastimes, but its effect summarises the remarkable story of Randburg-based property specialists Plumari.

Founded in 1979 by Giuseppe Plumari, it’s a narrative charting the rise of a business that began as an after-hours activity and grown to become the major shareholder in sixty companies, with a dazzling portfolio of commercial, retail and industrial property rented to tenants.

“Every one of our properties has been specifically selected to provide the perfect location for our clients to succeed in both the short and long term,” said Giuseppe’s daughter Leigh, who now runs the business together with brother Dino and sister Daniela.

“When you rent from us, you can be assured you are in the right spot for success.”

JUMP START TO SUCCESS

The success instinct showed early when the astutely ambitious young Giuseppe pole-vaulted from his spare-time home alteration and construction work.

“At a time when not many people in South Africa were buying property, he started buying small pieces of land on deed of sale and building luxury homes. And from there the business snowballed.”

Far from piecemeal, these acquisitions were specific parcels of land which Giuseppe saw - correctly – as future nodes; arterial intersections prime for development

A key moment came in the 2005 when a partnership with long-time friend and business collaborator Douw Steyn saw the launch of one such node – South Africa’s largest future parkland residence, Steyn City.

On the edge of affluent Sandton, 15km north of Johannesburg, the 2000-acre self-contained lifestyle city connects Fourways to Lanseria, Broadacres and Midrand, offering home buyers a safe lifestyle, pedestrianfriendly environment amid landscaped green belts and parks and every conceivable urban amenity.

Strategic interconnection has been central to another Giuseppe epic snowballer - Plumari Private Reserve, located between two of Gauteng’s most picturesque regions, Hartebeespoort and Magaliesberg.

Today a beautiful 7500-hectare area of bushveld, mountains and wetlands, Plumari Private Reserve is the closest Big Five game reserve to Johannesburg.

Here amid the region’s unique flora and fauna, guests can see a kaleidoscope of wildlife from leopard, white rhino and buffalo, to hippo, giraffe and zebra.

Like Steyn City, it is a creation where elegance and stylish living are crafted in harmony with the natural environment, a heritage enhanced by the deep sympathies of its originator and managers.

But like Giuseppe Plumari’s youthful founding strategy, its origins began with a series of small, astute land purchases – in this case a 200-hectare smallholding back in 1995.

PASSION AND THE DREAM

“Our father is passionate about wildlife and had always dreamt about having his own game farm,” says Daniela.

“Over the years he bought neighbouring farms, took down the fences in between, and slowly began introducing wildlife.”

Was this the early emergence of the greater vision that was to see the creation of Plumari Private Reserve?

“No, it was just something he was passionate about. In those days he would go out there almost daily and ride his horse on a farm of which he knew every nook and cranny.”

His dream, says Leigh, was always to create a big reserve – “but I don’t think he ever thought he would get there.”

Dino concurs, and says the 2017 Nedbank Business Excellence Awards ‘Person of the Year’ winner is “one hell of an opportunist.

“When those pieces of land around the farm became available the entrepreneurial side of him took over.”

The passion and entrepreneurialism have certainly paid off. For the guest, the Plumari Private Reserve’s Askari Game Lodge and Spa offers guests a memorable Big 5 wildlife experience within a malaria free environment one hour away from Johannesburg.

Two game drives are scheduled daily, with an elephant interaction that includes an educational talk followed by a ‘touch and feed’ experience.

Another development, the Ukuphila Bush Residence, is a limited residential opportunity, with 75 exclusive homes clustered in three small communities, located on a site selected for its singular views and magnificent scenery.

ANCIENT AND MODERN

Described as ‘contemporary farmhouse’, the design of each home – priced from R3m for a stand, to R10m for a complete home with four bedrooms – is inspired by the old farm homesteads in the surrounds of Hekpoort, Hartebeespoort and Rustenburg, but updated and expressed in a modern manner.

And such is the expanse of this vast reserve that each home is secluded, with the clusters spaced to create that sense of remoteness which is the special gift of the bush.

All three camps are easily accessed from main tarred roads, with houses concentrated around a key hub to ensure wildlife viewing areas remain undisturbed.

The first show home - “absolutely stunning” says Daniela - is reaching completion, but marketing has been tempered by prevailing external circumstances.

“We are also explosing potential partnerships with venture capital companies within the 12J stuctures, which can open up massive tax benefits for investors and stimulate job creation in the area”

“But more recently we have been looking more into an opportunity where we would partner with a certain type of venture capital company looking for investors, which in South Africa can open up massive tax benefits.

“If we go ahead, an investment in the venture capital company would be backed by a title deed on one of the units.

“This means that at the end of say five years, you would be able to trade the money you invested for one of the units - which you could keep as your own home - or put into the hotel pool and earn a return on that investment. However, as yet nothing is concrete.”

FAMILY QUALITIES

As an experienced family-run business, the Plumari Group has the advantage of making deals happen timeously and effortlessly, giving each client a close personal attention.

“While father is part of the decision-making process, and takes part in the weekly board meetings, he is not involved at all in the day-to-day running of the business,” says Leigh.

“Daniella is strong in the finance and technical side and passionate about the Farm, I deal with the operations and tenancy side, while Dino has enhanced the branding, innovation and utility sides of the business.

“It’s lovely working together. We see each other daily and get on exceptionally well - we are more like best friends.”

While the South African economy remains dysfunctional, with skyhigh unemployment and very weak investment, the latest data gives some room for encouragement.

Manufacturing output increased by 4.6% in April compared with April 2018, with the vehicle sector manufacturing up almost 19%.

Wholesale trade sales rose by 5.5% year-on, with exports jumping by more than 8% to R112 billion, and tourism – employing directly and indirectly one in 28 – up 2%.

Meanwhile Eskom has downgraded the country’s powergrid alert status to ‘yellow’ from ‘red’ -, just one above ‘green – when no load shedding is expected.

So is there some scope for modest optimism across the flat Johannesburg area property scene?

HANDS-ON OPTIMISM

“We are extremely optimistic, and not only because of the words that have emerged from the new President,” says Leigh.

“We are a family business, and one that has managed to survive in the difficult times when other businesses have folded. We are a hands-on business that makes things work.”

Until now the company has been concentrating on the rental and commercial sides of the business, “but with the Reserve side now ramping up a lot, the split is more balanced.

“We have focused on leisure and tourism in the past and now as property specialists we decided to turn it into a development.”

While its overwhelming investment is in the Johannesburg area, the Group is looking at other regions. Cape Town – where an investment has already been made - is seen as a place of opportunity, as is Durban.

“More developments are in the pipelines, but we are hesitant to squeeze ourselves and not be able to be as hands-on as we are here,” says Daniela.

“Looking into the future, we believe South Africa is going to grow from strength to strength. And because of inflation, we are expecting the rental market to turn around.”

Unsurprisingly, Plumari has been quietly backing its instincts, including a move, together with partners, into its first heavy industrial property – an 85,000 m2 site in the crane hiring sector.

“In the last couple of years, we have probably bought more land than at any time previously,” says Dino

“We have been going ahead, completing a lot of purchases and investing further and further into the country.

READY FOR THE TURNING POINT

“From our perspective we are very optimistic about what is going to happen. And when we are optimistic and everyone else is pessimistic, is usually the perfect time to buy.

“And when everyone else starts to get a bit optimistic will be the perfect time to start selling our units, and I think our rentals will go up further. Overall, we are in a really great position for the turning to come.”