Sarit Centre to build new floor for Westgate tenants

Owners of Sarit Centre will build an extra floor to accommodate a surge in demand for retail space in a multi-million shilling expansion bid which will also see them build a four-star hotel on the 12-acre property.

Sarit Centre officials said demand for rental space and recreation facilities had risen sharply especially following the Westgate Mall attack, which left major retail brands without a presence in the strategic Westlands shopping district.

Among the top retailers on Sarit’s waiting list are clothing and household goods retailer Deacons (which has rights for the Mr Price and Adidas labels), Lavis International (a high-end Indian clothing store previously hosted at Westgate), Planet Yoghurt, a leading bar, and cafe and Manix Clothing.

“Following what happened (at Westgate Mall) we had a lot of traders approach us and say they didn’t have a Westlands presence anymore.

Unfortunately or fortunately, for the last 15 years we have had 100 per cent occupancy,” said Dhruv Shah, Sarit Centre manager for strategy and development in an interview.

The extra floor, which is to be built above the main car park, is expected to cost about Sh200 million.

The owners say they will fund the expansion through a “variety of financing options from operating cash flows, to additional equity injections and debt finance via banks or other institutions.”

Being a family business, Sarit does not publish its financial statements and the owners declined to discuss performance of the group.

The Sarit Centre has been a major landmark in the wealthy Westlands suburb since its establishment 30 years ago. This will be the second major expansion bid since the first one was launched in 1997.

Today the building houses 130 tenants who include retailers, service companies and offices.

The decision to build a floor above the main car park is expected to give a quick re-location plan for businesses that were previously housed at Westgate, some of which have found it difficult to relocate or redeploy their staff.

READ: Growing middle class fuels demand for shopping space

The management settled on the option of an extra floor based on the advice of their architects and consultants.

“They went back, did research and drawings and came up with an expansion programme over the main car park which wouldn’t just achieve the objective of speed (12-month construction timeline) but also for us not to lose parking in the long run,” said Mr Shah.

The new space will add 20,000 square feet to the 500,000 sq ft shopping mall. Shareholders of the shopping mall also own the Text Book Centre. Sarit Centre handles an average of 25,000 visitors per day.

“This came down to speed. What we wanted essentially was to get the structure up quickly and safely such as it achieves our objective of giving these big brands an opportunity to have visibility in Westlands,” said Mr Shah.

Manix is also expected to sell baby clothes from its new franchise which is yet to be unveiled. The new space will be completed in November.

The extra floor plan sits in well with a massive expansion plan that Sarit’s owners are currently reviewing.

According to Mr Shah, Sarit Centre intends to implement the founders’ dreams of having a city within a city.

The vision entails a limited-service four-star hotel with 170 to 200 rooms, extended conferencing and exhibition facilities, additional commercial space, a residential block and silo parking.

Sarit Centre has already signed the hotel construction deal with a leading Pan-African hotel chain, which the management declined to disclose citing privacy agreements.