Sri Lankan real estate developer to buy property and strike strategic alliances
Commercial real estate developer in Sri Lanka, RIL Property, is reportedly looking at buying property and striking a strategic alliances giving access to suitable sites in the country’s commercial capital, Colombo, given growing demand for commercial space.
“The growing demand for Grade “A” commercial property in particular augers well for RIL, especially since it is our core business,” RIL Property Chairman Sunil Wijesinha has been quoted as saying.
The firm’s Parkland property in Colombo, with which it entered the market in 2016, when the demand for Grade “A” property was at its peak, remains fully occupied by local conglomerates and multinationals, he has stated in the company’s annual report.
Parkland is a 22 storey Grade ‘A’ office building with a gross floor area of 450,000 square feet.
Accordingly, its newly renovated and expanded property next door, called Parkland 1, formerly the Readywear building, launched to the market in March 2019 had secured 72 percent confirmed occupancy, mostly from existing clients occupying Parkland.
“As a supplier of Grade “A” commercial space, I believe RIL has an important role to play in strengthening Sri Lanka’s position as a key investment hub in Asia,” Wijesinha has reportedly told shareholders in the annual report.
The report has further stated that as part of its efforts to expand market share, RIL Property was considering what it termed as “outright acquisition of property that presents significant potential for future capital appreciation.”
RIL has added that it will also remain open to pursuing strategic alliances that would provide access to suitable sites within or in close proximity to Colombo’s Central Business District.
“Given the ever growing demand for commercial space, the focus for the long term would be to grow market share that would ultimately position RIL as the market leader in the country’s Grade “A” commercial property segment.”
OSL take:
The move by Sri Lanka’s RIL Property is indicative of the growing demand for property/property development in Sri Lanka. The aggressive development programme undertaken by the government of Sri Lanka has further increased land prices making properties in the island a popular investment opportunity with short/long term benefits. The proposed Colombo Port City project will also increase land value in Sri Lanka. Therefore foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s real estate sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12072019/Z_5 |