KINGSTON Properties Limited (KPREIT) has entered into a binding agreement to purchase approximately 19 units or roughly 16,000 square feet of residential condominium space located in Miami, Florida, which the real estate investment trust (REIT) says it has secured at a “19 per cent discount to current market prices”.

KPREIT last week informed the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) that it entered into the agreement to buy the space in the Loft II building located at 133 NE 2nd Avenue in downtown Miami, Florida.

“Each unit is tenanted with one-year renewable lease term,” said KPREIT in its release endorsed by company executive director Fayval Williams. “As a result of having done a bulk purchase, we acquired the condominium units for approximately 19 per cent discount to current market prices based on data tracked by Altos Research.”

The REIT says it will continue to “execute on its strategy of diversifying its holdings of real estate properties across Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and select international markets and among the different property types”.

“The company’s primary focus is on investing in existing properties in attractive locations with strong cash yields and the opportunity for capital appreciation,” It added. “In addition, we will explore joint-venture opportunities with owners of properties in desirable locations, who seek to benefit from our access to capital, and/or to explore joint-venture opportunities with strategic institutional partners that have a preference for owning real estate properties via the REIT structure.”

The closing of the transaction for the units in the Miami Loft II building is expected to be completed by mid March 2010.

At the end of February, KPREIT also announced that it had secured a similar purchase agreement to acquire 26,000 square-feet building located at 83 Hagley Park Road, which it also expects to close by mid-March.

That building is currently leased to DiverseyLever Jamaica Limited, a subsidiary of JohnsonDiversey Inc — a leading provider of cleaning products, equipment and services.

KPREIT plans to maintain relationship with the current tenants.

Although the company did not disclose the purchase price, in its annual report for 2009, KPREIT noted that it had placed a deposit of US$300,000 ($26.4 million) on December 16, 2009, on a property it intends to purchase. That agreement required the REIT to commit a further US$1.7 million ($151.4 million).

As at December 31, 2009 KPREIT had $498.5 million in equity.