Tinashe Makichi
HARARE – First Mutual Properties is working on modalities to scale down the $50 million investment, which was initially earmarked for the construction of an upmarket terminus and shopping mall in Harare’s central business district.
This comes after Harare City Council rekindled its relationship with FMP after it had initially threatened to cancel the deal over missed timelines.
First Mutual Properties partnered Harare City for the upmarket bus terminus, shopping mall, a parking lot and office blocks at Fourth Street bus rank project which is expected to take two years from the date of start.
“There’s a non-disclosure agreement that exists between the joint venture partners. The project is under discussion and a lot of changes are being discussed to make sure that the project becomes viable; and viability in a particular project is very important.
“So once the scope of work has been redefined and agreed, then a detailed implementation plan will be put in place. The discussions we are having are still private, but we are looking at the amount of initial investment proposed and then say how do we scale it down so that the potential income streams make the project profitable,” said FMP managing director Christopher Manyowa.
Under the proposed joint venture, the City Council is providing the land, technical and intellectual input while First Mutual Properties will provide the finance.
The proposed bus interchange would be located on land bound by Fourth Street, Robert Mugabe, Fifth Street and George Silundika Avenue. The land measures 35,104.39 square metres and is currently used as a parking lot and as a commuter omnibus rank.
Giving a trading update at the company’s annual general meeting, Manyowa said there has been a general improvement in terms of occupancy levels.
“Some of our retail shops, mainly supermarket experienced good turnover and this translated to revenue growth,” he said.
As a result, he said, net property income went up 13.75% to $1.8 million from $1.05 million comparable year ago period resulting in a 11.35% growth in operating profit which amounted to $1.29 million from $1.16 million.
