Published: Friday October 24, 2008
Handlers working on the sale of four prime properties put on the market by Cable & Wireless Pension Fund trustees are in negotiations with two potential buyers arising from bids that closed off at the end of September, the Financial Gleaner has learned.
The Towers, New Kingston Shopping Centre and the former drive-in cinema, all on Dominica Drive in New Kingston, as well as the Fair View Shopping Centre in Montego Bay, were advertised for sale in July.
The Financial Gleaner estimated the value on the properties at no less than $2 billion, but WIHCON, one of the firms handling the sale, has said the values were understated.
Derrick Jones, chairman of the Cable & Wireless Pension Fund, would not comment on the status of the negotiations.
"The process is ongoing and where we are in that process, would not be appropriate for public discussion at this time," he said Tuesday.
However, the Financial Gleaner was otherwise advised that more than five bids were received, both from local and overseas interests on all four properties, that "full-fledged negotiations" were under way with at least two bidders, and that a year end deadline had been set to offload the properties.
Built sometime in 1985, The Towers have become something of a landmark in New Kingston. Its twin structure - one 10 storeys and the other 12 - has a combined area of 112,850 square feet which sit on 73,976 square feet of land.
The cinema land, which sits opposite The Towers, is a 7.58 acre property which accommodates a theatre, a parking lot and an automobile showroom.
Property experts say that land in this area would value between J$5,500 and J$6,000 per square foot.
Adjacent to the defunct cinemas is the New Kingston Shopping Centre, a 175,848 square-foot shop and office complex which is situated on 2.26 acres of land.
Fair View Shopping Centre, in Montego Bay, on the northwest coast, comprises a series of buildings on a combined 101,000 square feet on 5.96 acres.
Source:
Dionne Rose
Jamaica Gleaner
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081024/business/business6.html
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
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