Real estate investment trust Kingston Properties Limited, KPREIT, has close the acquisition on its fifth property in the Cayman Islands, a deal CEO Kevin Richards describes as the company’s largest in that market to date.
The company has purchased 36 units in the Grand Harbour Commercial Centre along with an adjoining parking lot. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but Kingston Properties said the deal, which is its fifth for the Cayman Islands, gave it control over the majority of strata.
The complex was listed for US$21.7 million on real estate brokerage firm Century 21 Cayman Islands’ website. However, Kingston Properties CEO Kevin Richards emphasised that his company did not purchase the entirety of the property which sits on the outskirts of the capital Georgetown.
The closest he came to revealing the deal price was to state that the transaction was bigger than the US$3.13 million paid for three commercial units in a mixed-use industrial development called Gum Tree 5.
The Grand Harbour units purchased by Kingston Properties span 37,276 square feet and are fully tenanted, the company said in a market filing.
“We did not purchase the surrounding vacant lots, but as part of the deal we have the option to develop the parking. If we decide to develop the parking lot, we have the options to explore underground or other types of parking arrangements,” Richards told the Financial Gleaner.
Cayman Islands is the second largest market for Kingston Properties, centred between Jamaica at the apex and the United States.
At half year ending June, Kingston Properties booked revenue of US$982,595 from Jamaica, US$737,370 million from the Cayman Islands, and US$11,465 from the United States.
The size of its assets in each market was US$51.5 million for Jamaica, US$24.7 million for Cayman and US$5 million for the US.
The Cayman acquisition was executed days after Kingston Properties reported that it sold its Dumfries Road property in the busy New Kingston area for a gain of about US$400,000.
The company has been in acquisition for some time, mainly focused on Jamaica and Cayman, but it is next looking to enter the United Kingdom.