Real estate and mutual fund outfit Eppley Caribbean Property is acquiring two prime industrial properties in Kingston for an undisclosed sum.

The properties are located at 105-107 Marcus Garvey Drive and 693 Spanish Town Road. The acquisitions are in line with Eppley’s stated strategy for 2020 of completing new acquisitions in the coming months.

These new purchases see the company taking advantage of opportunities to buy assets at depressed market prices. Eppley has already completed the acquisition of 105-107 Marcus Garvey Drive, which is a 3.4 acre parcel of land located in Newport West.

The property contains two buildings, including a cold storage facility, totalling over 86,000 square feet. Acquisition of the property was executed using 15,447,465 newly issued shares in the company at a price equivalent to its net asset value per share, which as at September 4, 2020 was BBD $0.69 per share. The property in question is fully tenanted. The second property is being bought by Eppley along with its joint-venture partners, which include Norbrook Equity Partners.

The joint-venture partners have reached an agreement to acquire 693 Spanish Town Road, which is a three-acre parcel of land with more than 75,000 square feet of warehouse space. They have also identified tenants to occupy the building and expect this acquisition to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Commenting about the acquisitions, Eppley chairman, Nicholas Scott, said his company is delighted to continue to increase its investment in Jamaica and more specifically industrial assets in the island.

According to Scott, “These properties are part of Jamaica’s manufacturing and distribution supply chain, are difficult to replicate and are in strategic locations. Furthermore, their operating performance is resilient across market environments.”

Eppley is the largest, listed, real estate mutual fund in the Caribbean and trades on the Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago stock exchanges.

At the completion of these acquisitions, Eppley will own 13 buildings in Jamaica and Barbados comprising over 670,000 square feet.

— Durrant Pate