State ready to buy two prime NSSF assets

 

Anthony Omuya I Nation The two prime buildings that NSSF plans to sell — View Park Towers (left) and Hazina Towers — in Nairobi’s CBD.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By MWANIKI WAHOME jwahome@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The properties measure 203,000 square feet for View Park Towers and 95,000 square feet for Hazina Towers.
• The undeveloped plot is estimated at 1.993 acres.
• Earlier advertisement this year reportedly failed to attract good responses.
• Independent valuers estimate value the properties at between Sh14,000 and Sh15,000 per square feet of the total lettable area.
• This translates to between Sh3.5 billion and Sh5 billion for the two buildings

The government has expressed interest in buying two prime properties estimated to be worth Sh5 billion from National Social Security Fund.

The two buildings — Hazina Towers and View Park Towers — are located in Nairobi’s central business district.

NSSF acting managing trustee Tom Odongo said as a result, the workers’ pension scheme had withdrawn an advertisement for the sale to await the government’s action.

“By the time we went for open tendering, we received a letter from the Permanent Secretary for Housing expressing interest in acquiring the properties and, rather than subject them to public process, we gave the government the first priority.” he said.

The two buildings are near the Uhuru Highway-University Way roundabout.

Other property targeted for sale include an undeveloped plot next to the Israel embassy in Nairobi’s prime property area of Upper Hill.

Sale of the property was demanded by the Retirement Benefits Authority in a bid to reduce the property portfolio of the fund to the required 30 per cent.

Mr Odongo said the situation had become urgent at the beginning of the year when stock prices at the Nairobi bourse were low, but things have since improved.

At the time, the company would have scaled down the property portfolio from 29 per cent to 36 per cent.

“The reason we have surpassed this is not our own making. It’s because the shares at the NSE had a dip, which affected the portfolio balance. But we are seeing it going up, which means the property portfolio is going down,” he said.

He said the pension fund had signed a service level agreement with the investment managers to ensure they are within the limit, and received a compliance certificate in October 2011.