Fusion sets sights on Meru with town's first shopping mall
Fusion Capital chief executive Luke Kinoti. The private equity firm is investing Sh2 billion in a new integrated real estate development in Meru town that includes its first mall, office block and apartments. FILE PHOTO |
What you need to know:
PE firm has partnered with local investors in a joint venture that will see Fusion cover the cost of putting up the project while the partners provide seven acres of land.
According to Meru governor Peter Munya, this is the single-biggest private investment in the town.
The company has already invested in six counties including Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kajiado, Kiambu and Murang’a. The company’s next project will be in Kisumu.
Private equity firm Fusion Capital is investing Sh2 billion in a new integrated real estate development in Meru town that includes its first mall, office block and apartments.
The PE firm has partnered with local investors in a joint venture that will see Fusion cover the cost of putting up the project while the partners provide seven acres of land.
Group CEO Luke Kinoti said the project is scheduled to kick off in January 2015 and will take a maximum of 30 months.
“We are talking to two firms interested in being the anchor tenants in the mall... Two banks have also shown interest in taking up space,” Mr Kinoti told the Business Daily.
Meru Greenwood Park is located in the town’s central business district on the Nairobi-Meru road.
The project will have a 25,000 square metre shopping mall, a Grade A office block occupying 20,000 square metres, 50 two- and three-bedroom apartments and a public car park with 240 slots. It will also have a swimming pool, sports club and cinema theatre.
Mr Kinoti said Fusion is targeting the Meru county government with some of the office space and a few international brands that have taken up space in Fusion’s Kigali Heights development in Rwanda.
According to Meru governor Peter Munya, this is the single-biggest private investment in the town.
The town’s economy has in the past thrived on miraa trade and agriculture, which attracted many banks. Retail chain Nakumatt also set up a branch in 2007.
“We target to have let out 90 per cent of all available space and sold out all the apartments by the end of next year,” said Mr Kinoti.
He said the investment is part of a strategy targeting counties adopted by the firm in 2013, where eight counties were identified for investment in the first phase.
The company has already invested in six counties including Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kajiado, Kiambu and Murang’a. The company’s next project will be in Kisumu.
In Nairobi, Fusion has put in Sh1.4 billion in the 4th Ngong Avenue office block and Sh1.2 billion in Flaming Towers at Upperhill. Other investments include Sh1.1 billion Marina Creekside Luxury Apartments in Mombasa, Sh270 million Goldmark Apartments in Kampala and Sh250 million Grandepark Estate in Nakuru.
