Real estate mogul Gordon Tewani has purchased the Fairview Shopping Centre in Montego Bay from the Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) Pension Fund for over $600 million, according to the fund’s chairman Derek Jones.

“The financial details will emerge in due course, but the market value of the property was $600 million. The transfer price has been registered at upwards of $600 million,” stated Jones, who spoke to Sunday Observer Thursday.

Fairview, a 101,000-square foot property sits on six acres of land. Companies occupying space in the centre include RBTT Bank, Super Plus supermarket, Palace Cinema’s Multiplex, Texaco service station, Rapid TrueValue, KFC and others.

“We have just concluded the sale of the Fairview Shopping Centre to Gordon Tewani,” added Jones who is also a partner at the law firm Myers Fletcher and Gordon.

News of the sale had been circulating, but details on the purchaser had never been disclosed. Gordon Tewani is the operator of Mall Jewellers and Tropical Jewellers, and owns about 100,000 square feet of prime rental office space in Kingston.

Negotiations continue regarding the sale of the other properties belonging to the C&WJ Pension Fund, including The Towers, New Kingston Shopping Centre and the neighbouring drive-in cinema.
“There is nothing to talk about yet,” he stated on the sale of the remaining assets.

The properties went on the market in 2008 in an effort to maximise value for members of the pension fund. “The strategic disposal of (Fairview) is consistent with the realignment of the pension fund, which we have been engaged in for the last two-to-three years,” he explained. The total value of the properties on the block is over $2 billion, but they have been hard sells due to the economic downturn, as reported.