EPPLEY Caribbean Property Fund’s Value Fund is in advanced talks to sell Carlisle House, one of its weakest-performing assets, with the Bds$7-million Bridgetown office building still nearly two-thirds vacant.

The fund’s June-quarter report had said only that alternatives were being explored for the property. Eppley Fund Managers Limited has now told the Jamaica Observer that it is negotiating with an investor interested in capitalising on the redevelopment taking place around the nearby Bridgetown waterfront.

The manager provided no expected selling price or completion date and did not identify the prospective buyer.

Carlisle House covers 42,926 square feet and also houses the fund’s head office. It was valued at Bds$7 million in September 2025, unchanged from the previous year, despite being only 33 per cent occupied and producing no net operating income yield. Occupancy has since edged up to 37 per cent.

Eppley said the building’s position near Bridgetown’s cruise-ship pier and the Pierhead waterfront redevelopment could make it valuable to an investor with the capacity to pursue a different use. Its own strategy has now shifted from exploring how to reposition the building to negotiating a possible exit.

The financing attached to Carlisle House is less clear. The 2025 accounts listed the building, along with 24 Broad Street in Bridgetown, as collateral for a Bds$6.92-million bond carrying an interest rate of 3.75 per cent. That bond matured on July 31 and has been refinanced.

Aisha Campbell, president of Real Estate and Infrastructure at Eppley. Campbell said the Value Fund’s earnings growth was supported by recurring rental income, occupancy gains and contractual rent increases, while its portfolio strategy includes retaining core assets, repositioning selected properties and selling weaker performers.

Eppley disclosed neither the new interest rate nor the maturity date. It also did not say whether Carlisle House remains part of the security or how the collateral would be handled if the sale goes through.

The negotiations provide the first concrete example of how the fund manager is reviewing its portfolio. Eppley said it now looks at each property in one of three ways: keep and expand it, find a more profitable use for it, or sell it and put the money elsewhere.

Management gave no details of an acquisition advancing since June. It said expansion has largely been financed through operating cash flow and loans secured against individual properties, rather than by issuing new shares and diluting existing investors.

The Carlisle House talks come as the wider fund is performing better.

Carlisle House, a waterfront commercial building on Hincks Street in Bridgetown, Barbados. Occupancy has increased from 33 per cent to 37 per cent, but Eppley says it is in advanced discussions to sell the property to an investor positioned to capitalise on redevelopment taking place around the nearby Pierhead waterfront.

Funds from operations, or FFO, rose 20 per cent to Bds$4.57 million during the nine months to June. That was already above the Bds$3.96 million generated during the entire 2025 financial year.

FFO measures the recurring earnings produced by the properties after financing costs while excluding non-cash movements such as changes in property values. The latest results contained no gains from property revaluations.

“The Value Fund’s third-quarter results reflect the underlying strength and resilience of this portfolio,” said Aisha Campbell, Eppley’s president of real estate and infrastructure. “The fund’s growth is driven by operating fundamentals, occupancy gains and contractual rent escalations.”

Net operating income rose nine per cent to Bds$9.40 million, helped by contractual rent increases and higher average occupancy. Net rental income increased 13 per cent to Bds$5.93 million, while net profit rose by the same rate to Bds$4.28 million.

Although occupancy stood at 95 per cent at the end of June, Eppley said it had averaged 97 per cent during the financial year to date. The manager attributed the monthly variation to lease expirations and renewals.

The Value Fund owns interests in 40 buildings covering approximately 1.2 million square feet across the Caribbean. They include Mall Plaza and Empire Shopping Centre in Kingston; Angels Industrial Estate in St Catherine; warehouses along Marcus Garvey Drive and Spanish Town Road; and 22 properties occupied by JN Bank.

Its Barbados holdings include Emerald City Mall, Sunset Crest Mall, Chattel Village, Hastings Business Centre and Carlisle House.

Emerald City Mall at Six Cross Roads, St Philip, Barbados. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund’s Value Fund owns a 30 per cent interest in the shopping complex through a joint venture established under a sale-and-leaseback arrangement with AOne Supermarket.

The stronger performance has not carried through to the market price of the fund’s units.

Net asset value stood at Bds$1.03 per share at June 30 and Bds$1.02 on August 14. The units were priced at approximately Bds$0.53 in Barbados, about 48 per cent below NAV. The Jamaica-listed units carried a discount of roughly 45 per cent. The fund is also listed in Trinidad and Tobago.

Asked by the Jamaica Observer whether the gap reflected limited trading or investor caution about appraisal-based property values, Eppley said the market ultimately determines the price.

The manager instead pointed to recurring earnings, rent increases, occupancy and quarterly dividends. It did not address how much each concern might contribute to the discount or say whether the fund’s previous share-buyback programme remains active.

Eppley said its properties are appraised annually. That makes operating measures such as rent, occupancy and FFO especially important between valuations.

Sunset Crest Mall on the west coast of Barbados, close to several of the island’s major hotels and tourist destinations. The Value Fund owns a 24 per cent interest in the commercial shopping centre through a joint venture. (PHOTO: LESLIE ST JOHN)

The manager also clarified an inconsistency in the results with the Business Observer. The shareholder report described Bds$4.28 million as comprehensive income, but the financial statements recorded that amount as net profit. Total comprehensive income was Bds$3.35 million after a Bds$0.93-million foreign-currency translation loss.

Another issue carried over from 2025 is unpaid rent from a single tenant in Jamaica. The fund made a Bds$392,236 impairment provision last year and has since recovered Bds$63,599.

Eppley said the tenant is adhering to an agreed repayment plan but did not state how much remains outstanding.

The fund is also handling two other facilities due in September. A Bds$0.99-million loan will be refinanced, while a Bds$2.69-million facility will be repaid during the month. No rate was provided for the new borrowing. The fund held Bds$5.79 million in cash at the end of June.

The board has approved another quarterly dividend of 0.50 Barbados cents, or Bds$0.005, per share. It will be paid on September 16 to shareholders on record on September 2.

Eppley argues that recurring property income and reliable dividends will build long-term value. At the latest published prices, however, investors were still valuing the fund at roughly half its stated net asset value.