The owner of Donholm’s Greenspan Mall, ILAM Fahari Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), will put up residential units within the shopping complex, further entrenching the property into a fully mixed-use development.
Greenspan Mall complex will now host office, retail and residential units, mirroring peers like Two Rivers and Garden City Malls, which feature the three segments.
‘Our immediate priority is the development of the excess land at Greenspan Mall. After evaluating several investment options, we settled on the construction of residential units as the most viable use of the land,’ ILAM Reit Chairman Andrew Ndegwa said.
‘The project is currently at Royal Institute of British Architects Plan of Works (Riba) stage 3, with several consultants appointed and having commenced work. Groundbreaking is expected in 2026, subject to receiving the necessary board, trustees, and regulatory approvals.’
Mixed-use shift
The Reit is also seeking to improve office occupancy at its property known as 67 Gitanga Place in Nairobi’s Lavington area, which remained largely vacant in 2025 following a tenant exit, leaving only 14 percent occupancy during the second half of the year.
The move to introduce residential units at Greenspan represents a pivot for the Reit manager, which has previously focused on acquiring complete projects in retail, office, and industrial segments.
Greenspan Mall was acquired in December 2015 at a price of Sh2.09 billion and sits on 9.5 acres within the middle-income area of Donholm.
The development currently comprises a retail centre with a gross lettable area (GLA) of approximately 14,350 square metres with 1,000 parking spaces. The Reit manager says Greenspan has the potential to improve returns for the scheme through the reconfiguration of the property.
‘The property represents an investment with potential to improve the returns through the development of the excess land and reconfiguration of the mall/tenant mix. Anchored by Naivas and sub-anchored by China Square, it offers fast food restaurants and bars, as well as various service-related tenants such as banks, wellness centres, entertainment centres, cinema, salons, healthcare, and small non-branded fashion and apparel component,’ the Reit manager noted in its annual report.
Occupancy gains
Improved occupancy at Greenspan Mall, which represents 79 percent of the Reit’s property portfolio, helped offset a decline in the scheme’s profitability, which fell 35 percent from Sh377.2 million in 2024 on lower fair value gains on investment portfolio.
The property portfolio recorded a Sh100 million valuation lift on improved performance at Greenspan Mall, where occupancy increased from 86 percent to 93 percent in 2025.
The increased occupancy at the mall led to a nine percent increase in rental and related income for the Reit.
The performance of Fahari Reit’s other property, 67 Gitanga Place, contrasted sharply with that of Greenspan Mall as the Reit manager struggled to find replacement tenants to occupy the vacant space.
The weak performance mirrors the effects of an office oversupply around the Nairobi Metropolitan Area (NMA).
Occupancy at the office property sits far below the 82.3 percent office occupancy average in the city for 2025.
The Reit says it is exploring innovations to boost occupancy at the office property.
‘The office market continues to face oversupply, and management is actively pursuing various leasing and repositioning strategies to improve occupancy levels,’ added Mr Ndegwa.
ILAM Fahari Reit retained the two properties after its disposal of a pair of industrial buildings, Signature Assets Limited and Bay Holdings Limited.
The Reit holds its other investments as cash and cash equivalents, including demand and time commercial bank deposits.