Companies
CentumRe completes first phase of Sh3 billion bond-funded houses
Wednesday February 15 2023
Some of the complete units of Loft Residences launched on February 11, 2023 at Two Rivers Mall. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG
Centum Real Estate has completed the first phase of its 32 four-bedroom luxury duplexes that are being constructed by the proceeds of its Sh3 billion bond.
The houses, under the project named Loft Residences at Two Rivers, were priced from $439,000 (Sh55 million), according to Centum’s earlier disclosures.
Centum says the completion of this first phase brings to 656 the number of new homes it has handed over in the last two years.
Read: Centum downplays fall in real estate arm profit
“Our track record assures investors of quality, value for money, timely handover of projects and a return on their investment,” said Kenneth Mbae, Centum Real Estate Managing Director.
Centum Re, a subsidiary of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed Centum Investment Company, funded the project through the Sh3 billion bond that was issued on December 16, 2020.
The three-year bond will mature on December 13 this year and is secured by the projects, with the deposit collections flowing into a sinking fund.
Centum Re investors will earn a return of 12.5 percent for the Sh2.6 billion plain bond and 12 percent on the Sh354 million equity-linked bond.
Loft Residences benefits from the ambience provided by the Two Rivers, where 30 percent of the land was set aside for green spaces.
Amenities such as open spaces, ferris wheel, hotels and business parks add to the selling point of the houses.
Centum Re also recently completed and handed over projects to homeowners in Vipingo and Entebbe, Uganda and is currently constructing over 1,454 housing units.
Its parent company Centum had invested Sh7.5 billion in this business unit by the end of September last year. The subsidiary had paid back Sh5.2 billion using proceeds from the sale of houses.
Centum Re had three projects—Loft, Cascadia and Mizizi Court—ongoing at Two Rivers by September last year.
The real estate developer said the projects had a combined 811 residential units, of which 573 units were already pre-sold.
Read: Centum Re raises Sh3.8bn from land sale
Centum Re estimated that the 811 units were going to generate sales of Sh7.44 billion. Some Sh2.34 billion had already been collected by last September.
