John Keells Holdings PLC, Associated Motorways PLC and Finlays Colombo PLC signed an MOU Thursday evening to conduct a feasibility study that would lead to the development of a city within the city on the properties belonging to the three companies that lie side by side in Colombo 2.
The extent of the combined properties is 1,060 perches, 480 perches of JKH, 280 of AWM and Finlays, 300 perches. The feasibility study will be conducted to establish the details and extent of the building construction to be carried out on the property, the required investments etc
Although the sole purpose of signing the MOU was to establish the details, it was revealed that the development of the combined site may require an investment of US$ 250 million, Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman John Keells Holdings PLC said.
In keeping with the concept of developing a city within the city, the buildings that would come up on the property overlooking the Beira Lake are expected to be used for commercial, retail, residential and recreational purposes. The number of buildings to be built on the property—in fact the entire concept of the project—will be finalised through the feasibility study.
While valuations are yet to be carried out the land value is roughly estimated at Rs. 6 billion.
The good neighbours (JKH, AMW and Finlays), who occupy the land that will be used for this project which is accessed through Union Place and Vauxhall Street, will have to relocate their offices once the development phase kicks off and the sheer magnitude of the project in the heart of the city is going to require a whole gamut of approvals, which means that the implementation of the plans that emerge from the feasibility study will commence about two years from now.
Once the feasibility study is concluded a joint venture company will be set up to proceed with the development work in a phased-out approach.
"We will be able to do much more together when the scale of the project is considered than what we could do on our own. The purpose of this project is to unlock the potential of the properties we hold and with a combined effort we can create a differentiation with other property developments in the city," said Kumar Jayasuriya, Chairman Finlays Colombo PLC.
JKH, with its property development arm Asian Hotels and Property PLC (Crescat City), and Finlays, whose parent company Swire Group specialises in property development in the Asia Pacific region, are expected to play lead roles in the planning and implementation stages of this project.
Ajita De Zoysa, Chairman Associated Motorways PLC, Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman John Keells Holdings PLC and Kumar Jayasuriya, Chairman Finlays Colombo PLC signed the MOU on behalf of their companies.
The big three were not particular about the number of buildings, or their height, nor were they concerned to divulge intricate details of all that is in store. They just wanted to say that the project is expected to maximise the potential of their property and create a city within a city.
We don’t have much details until the feasibility study is concluded but of one thing we can be sure, the landscape in the heart of Colombo is about to change. (DD)
