Property Alliance Capital, Australia and local ISL Holdings (Pvt) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Board of Investment (BOI) over its US$ 450 million Prosperity Place mixed development alongside the Beira Lake.

Formal agreements on the project, which currently stands as the second largest mixed development project to be undertaken in the country, were presented at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Round Table with heads of government and business leaders yesterday.

“We had been looking to invest in Sri Lanka for the last 3 years. We are very confident of the demand for this kind of mixed development given Sri Lanka’s current trajectory. There is a definite need for residential and office space in Colombo

 “Prosperity Place apartments will be extremely spacious and while we are still working out our pricing points, our apartments will be much more spacious than anything currently available in Sri Lanka. However we are also working to make sure that they are not exorbitantly priced,” Property Alliance Capital Director Migara Jayainghe said.

“Prosperity Place will also be different in its development model. Instead of relying on pre-sales, we will be funding the development ourselves, with all aspects of the development being handled exclusively by our Australian partners.

When we are marketing Prosperity Place, we want to show a finished product as much as possible,” ISL Chairman, G Sivajothi said.

Comprising of 3 phases including twin apartment towers of 38 levels each with 75 luxury 3 and 4 bedroom apartments, a 5-star hotel, and a 68-storey office and commercial tower, dubbed “The Rice Exchange”, the total project is scheduled to reach completion within the next 5-6 years.

Construction on Prosperity Place is targeted to commence within the next two months following completion of approvals from the BOI and UDA.

Payment to the UDA for 99-year lease of approximately 6 acres of land of Rs. 8 million a perch will be completed following the grant of approvals with 10 percent of the total consideration having already been signed over to the UDA.

Jayasinghe who is also of Sri Lankan origin, stated that marketing for Prosperity Place would commence with construction targeting Sri Lankan expatriates through road-shows in 8 different cities around the world, including Melbourne, London, Toronto and California.

“Of course for us this is primarily a business venture and we decided to embark on this project for business reasons. However as Sri Lankans, we also want to do our part to help develop the country and we hope to use our showpiece development of the Rice Exchange tower to contribute to Colombo’s developing skyline.”

Given Property Alliance Capital’s experience in the Australian construction sector, Jayasinghe stated that extensive measures would be taken to incorporate sustainable and environmentally-friendly features into the design and construction of Prosperity Place.

Included in the Property Alliance Capital team is Managing Director, Greg Robinson who had previously been involved with the development of the Sydney Airport.

“We are looking to really build something that is Sri Lankan in essence instead of trying to take something like what we have in the Singapore sky-line and plug it here,” he stated.

Welcoming the agreement, UDA Chairman, Nimal Perera stated that the development was a further sign of confidence in Sri Lanka’s fast developing economy.

“This development is the second largest after Crown’s mixed development and shows the continuing confidence that investors have in Sri Lanka. We welcome your decision to start this investment. Given the way Sri Lanka is developing, you would have been the losers if you had not invested in Sri Lanka, not the country,” Perera confidently asserted.