BPM Financial Limited, a privately held company offering investment and pension fund management services, has acquired the property neighbouring its head office at 1A Holborn Road in Kingston for US$900,000, or about $140 million in local currency.
The property, which has a registered address of 1B Holborn Road, was previously owned by real estate and property management company SAJE Logistics Infrastructure. It measures less than half an acre, and was transferred to BPM Financial on May 11, 2022, according to Titles Office of Jamaica records.
“The property became available and we decided that it was very compatible with where we are. Our property is half an acre and the neighbouring property is slightly smaller, so it made sense to put the two properties together,” Managing Director of BPM Financial Peta-Rose Hall told the Financial Gleaner.
“I think we could utilise the footprint of the land so much better.”
BPM will add the newly acquired property to its real estate portfolio, which is currently valued at just north of US$5 million, Hall said.
Redevelopment works will be done on both properties, 1A and 1B, but heavier construction activities are planned for BPM’s existing building.
“It was an old Swiss Chalet restaurant that we had renovated when we moved in about 20 years ago. But we’ve basically maximised the space, so the plan is to utilise the land space better given that this is the larger of the two lots,” Hall said.
“The plans are not finalised as yet but I think we will be demolishing that building,” she added.
BPM Financial’s building at 1A Holborn Road is about 6,000 square feet in size, but the company plans to quadruple it with the redevelopment. As for the newly acquired lot, the company is planning to raise the building one floor higher – from two to three floors – as it seeks to facilitate more tenants.
Hall is still working through where BPM Financial’s own offices will be relocated at completion of the construction works, but affirmed that the buildings will remain separated.
The newly acquired location has been home to medical imaging centre Elite Diagnostics Limited for several years, but with the buildout of an expanded space, BPM Financial wants to lock in more tenants to earn more rental income from the property.
The redevelopment works, for which a budget is still being worked through, are scheduled to begin in two years.
All the properties under BPM’s real estate portfolio are in Kingston, the majority of which are commercial in nature. Hall says the company is actively seeking to acquire another property outside of the capital for mixed-use development, including residential units.
“The market is saturated with apartment buildings all over Kingston, but I think there are opportunities at the middle of the market. There isn’t much attention on family homes,” she said.
BPM Financial has been in business since 1993. Its investment options offered to clients include fixed-income instruments, both in local and US currencies, equity investments, government instruments and corporate bonds, and global blue-chip investments. The company also supports personal or business developments through its loan offerings. And it is currently in the process of developing its portfolio to add real estate invest options to the products offered to clients.
“In 2023, we will be bringing some new products to the market,” Hall said. “But right now we can’t disclose what those products will be because its too early in the cycle. What I can say is that it will be one of a kind.”
BPM Financial eventually plans to go public and list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Hall also hinted at plans to list other products, but did not say which of the stock exchange’s platforms was being targeted.
“There are plans to list the company, but we are working through other product listings first. So we are not quite at that stage yet,” Hall said.
Described as a mid-level asset management company, BPM was established in 1993 as Barita Portfolio Management Limited, but rebranded at the end of April 2008 as BPM Financial Limited. The company is no longer affiliated with the Barita Group of Companies.
Aside from its office in Kingston, BPM Financial also serves clients from its sub-branch on Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay.
karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com