WestProp will be a billion dollar company in seven years: Ken Sharpe

HARARE – West Property Holdings plans to be a US$1 billion company by 2030 from the current valuation of US$300 million, with assets expected to be boosted by The Hills Luxury Golf Estate project and the soon-to-be constructed Mall of Zimbabwe.

CEO Ken Sharpe told FinX at the ZimReal conference last week that the company is confident of its balance sheet valuation of US$300 million and the stability of its share price which is currently at US$10 on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange. “We are confident of growing the balance sheet over the next seven years to US$1 billion.”

Looking beyond 2030, Sharpe, who has an equally ambitious plan of one billion bricks by 2050, said that the US$1 billion will be achieved by extracting value from its land bank. “For example the land at The Hills was a valueless piece of land. The city of Harare was earning just US$1 a year with no commercial value attached to it. But today, we have launched a US$280 million project on that same land.”

He said already, the company has spent US$2 million on initial development on the land. “We have done extensive works by putting up some lakes on the golf course. We have also purchased some US$2 million worth of vehicles to be based there permanently.”

Another US$10 million will be required to uplift and rehabilitate the golf course to make it a PGA championship structure. This funding is already in place and the project will be executed over the next two years. The rest of the project will be funded “as we sell.” He said the group doesn’t build ahead of sales.

“Simultaneously, we are also unlocking value by putting in the roads and services for the civils. Home construction will start early next year. The first show houses, a townhouse and a villa, will start this year and we will start selling those homes actively in Q1 next year.”

Sharpe said that the company had also introduced the concept of branded houses for the first time. Brand residences are residential properties available for purchase that are affiliated with a brand, usually by design and servicing. These are self-contained units with a high-quality hotel-level offering and are professionally managed.

“So the value that a five-star hotel will bring by having branded residences increases the prices of the properties further. If you look at the WestProp model…it is very unique, because we are the only company that has a unique selling proposition as we vertically integrate the ecosystem of work, live, shop and play. We are creating lifestyle communities. This is what will bring real value.”

West Property also announced they have partnered with Exemplar, a South African property developer, to build the Mall of Zimbabwe. This ambitious project is expected to commence construction in the second quarter of next year.

“Jason McCormick flew up from South Africa. He’s the Chief Executive Officer of Exemplar which is listed in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. They have about 20 billion in their portfolio. They’re large developers. They’ve been building shopping malls for the last 40 years. They’ve been our partner since day one as a 50% equity partner in the mall. And they made the announcement that the mall is finally going ahead. So we’re now going to the leasing and marketing phase,” said Sharpe.

McCormick said he would be working on the financial logistics to determine a return on investment and construction costs over the next six to eight months.-finx