Markets & Finance

Britam launches plan for 30-storey office building

britam

Britam Group Managing Director Benson Wairegi and Home Finance Guarantors Africa Insurance Management CEO Charlene Lea during the launch of a mortgage insurance product in Nairobi last month. File

British American Insurance Company is planning to spend Sh4.2 billion on a new 30-storey office tower and car park facility in Upper Hill.
The area which has attracted dozens of multi-national companies and blue chip financial service firms seeking expansion space away from Nairobi’s city centre.

The insurance firm, which is a subsidiary of the listed financial services group, Britam, has filed applications for regulatory approval to put up the new office building.

According to the documents seen by Business Daily, the project will see the creation of 330,000 square feet of office and commercial space for rental purposes and about 970 parking bays, making it one of the largest office blocks in the area.

“British American Insurance Company is proposing to put up an office tower along Hospital Road in Upper Hill, which is Nairobi’s fastest growing commercial district. The design for the proposed complex provides for a 30 grade A office building with a detached 10 storey parkade,” said the insurance firm in a filing with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).

The total cost of the project has been estimated at Sh4.19 billion according to the application documents, which also show that firm’s intention to tap into the growing demand for office space in the area.

The insurance firm listed at the securities exchange last year through an initial public offering (IPO) that raised Sh3.5 billion out of the targeted amount of Sh5.8 billion, and it is not clear how the company intends to finance the project.

Efforts by Business Daily to get a comment from the company were not successful by the time of going to press.

In June this year, BAAM announced plans to pool money from different investors that will be used to invest in real estate as part of its intention to diversify from government securities, equities and bank deposits. At that time, the company said that it would unveil a Sh10 billion property fund in a joint venture with international and local high net worth investors.

Already KCB Group is investing Sh2.1 billion in the construction of its new headquarters in the area, where other firms such as Commercial Bank of Africa, Old Mutual and CIC Insurance already have their main offices.

British American Insurance Company says that the office block and car park will stand on two plots of land approximately 1.5 acres, next to Blue Shield Towers, neighboured by Eagle Africa and Crowne Plaza on the eastern side, Equity Centre on the southern side and mansionettes on the West.

Other firms which have set up in the area include The World Bank, Coca-Cola, Citi Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers and The International Finance Corporation.

Other companies that have their headquarters away from the city center include Barclays Bank that has moved to the West End building next to Safaricom offices on Waiyaki Way.

Standard Chartered and CfC Stanbic now have their headquarters in Westlands.

Last month the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) also announced that it will be moving to 55 Westlands Road.

“The site is not developed and is used as a car park only covered by scattered grass and a few trees,” says the regulatory filings seen by Business Daily. British American Investments Company, which as at the end of last year had two subsidiaries in Kenya - British American Insurance Company and British American Asset Managers (BAAM) - and one subsidiary in Uganda, Britam Insurance Company (Uganda), rebranded and changed its name to Britam.

The rebranding was done to help the company to expand into other countries in East Africa under one name. The parent company listed its shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in September last year through an IPO that was seeking to raise Sh5.58 billion through the sale of 650 million shares.