KINGSTON Properties Limited (KPREIT) has put plans to sell its 591 Spanish Town Road property on hold following last year’s fire.

The company, which had been considering two offers for the property before the blaze, is now carrying out extensive renovations while it awaits settlement of its insurance claims.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Richards said KPREIT intends to revisit the sale once those claims are settled.

“The 591 STR property was classified as held for sale as there were two offers being considered prior to the fire that affected one of the buildings at the location,” Richards told the Jamaica Observer.

“We opted not to proceed with the sale given the damage to the property and the pending insurance claims. Once those are settled, we will revisit the marketing of the property.”

In the meantime, Richards said KPREIT is undertaking an “extensive renovation” of the property to further boost its value.

The latest move comes after a period of upheaval at the Spanish Town Road complex, which had become largely vacant following the closure of its largest tenant’s business in 2024.

McIntosh Bedding Company Limited, which occupied a large section of the property, closed in December 2024 after about six decades in operation. KPREIT subsequently began marketing approximately 30,000 square feet of warehouse and office space previously occupied by the mattress manufacturer.

In an update on Tuesday, Richards said the vacant spaces were eventually leased towards the end of 2025, helping to improve the financial performance of the property.

“The result of those efforts has led to the improved financial performance at that property for the year to date and the uptick in group occupancy levels,” he said.

KPREIT reported average occupancy of approximately 96 per cent across its portfolio for the six months to June. The company said efforts to re-let vacant space at Spanish Town Road, along with the conversion of vacant space at Harbour Centre into office suites, helped lift overall occupancy by two percentage points.

The June 23, 2025, fire affected one building at the complex after a petrol truck caught fire and the blaze spread to a section occupied by Agri World Farm Store. No injuries were reported.

Richards said the insurance claims are still being processed and declined to indicate how much KPREIT expects to recover.

“The insurance claims are being processed, so it would be premature to comment on that,” he told the Business Observer.

KPREIT’s decision to eventually return the property to market forms part of its wider strategy to sell selected assets and redeploy the proceeds into investments offering better returns.

“As it relates to the other non-core assets, we still firmly believe in redeploying capital into immediate cash flow generating opportunities at better risk adjusted yields,” Richards said.

Elsewhere in its Jamaican portfolio, KPREIT is targeting the end of September for completion of its Rousseau Road development after several delays, the latest of which Richards attributed to a shortage of cement.

Richards said the project will add 14 warehouse and mixed-use units for rent, with marketing already underway.

“We continue to see opportunities in Jamaica and our focus has been selective asset management of our existing properties while being disciplined on pricing for new deals,” he said.

— Karena Bennett