Meera Investments Limited, yesterday, May 19th 2019, officially opened their iconic Kingdom Kampala Mall, releasing onto the market, a fresh 22,000m2 of Grade A retail and office space.
Meera is the property development arm of Ruparelia Group and is the largest developer of commercial and residential space, with over 300 properties in Kampala and surrounding towns.
According to Rajiv Ruparelia, the Group Managing Director, the completion of the “built to international standards” property, clears way for the next phase of development at the 14-acre site- located on Nile Avenue, Yusuf Lule Road and Dewinton Roads, just to the north-east of Kampala’s Central Business District.
“We are happy to unveil our Grade A property to the public. Nothing has been left to chance- everything has been built to international standards,” he told the press, adding: “It has been a 2 years long journey with my team and finally today, we are there; I want to thank all our contractors, architects, cleaners and all Ruparelia Group staff who worked on the project. Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“We are glad to launch at this strategic time when Uganda is progressing in the oil and gas developments. We hope and believe the oil companies will reach the Final Investment Decision (FID) this year- that will stimulate extreme economic opportunities, in Uganda,” he said.
Rajiv subtly hinted on the group’s next phase, saying that the group will next put up a “21-storeyed building.”
He did not say whether it will be a hotel or an office tower.
According to development plans on the project’s website, the group intends to develop the 14-acre land in 4 phases. Following the first phase, the next 3 phases, will consist of a 5-star hotel, a shopping mall, another office tower and serviced apartments- in no particular order.
Modern building; modern amenities
Kingdom Kampala Mall is a mixed-use building- a blend of light retail as well as 10 floors of office space.
Out of the 40,000m2 built-up area, 22,000m2 is lettable, consisting of 18,000m2 of office space, 4,000m2 of retail as well as parking for up to 450 cars.
“We have 10 floors of office space, 47 retail units and 3 floors of basement parking,” said Rajiv, during an earlier media tour of the property.
The building has been fitted with a modern sprinkler fire suppression system consisting of a 200,000-litre water tank and 2 fire pumps with a backup generator. There is a separate holding water tank with a capacity of 150,000 litres.
The building is also equipped with 6 lifts- four with a capacity of 13 passengers and two with a capacity of 20 passengers. It also has three 500kva backup generators with a 15,000 diesel tank and has been fitted with 400 CCTVs for security.
I&M Select Banking Sapphire Club wins “Best Innovation of the Year” at UMEAS 2025“The building can run for 4-5 days off-grid,” he said.
“I don’t think we have left out anything for this not to be called a Grade A building,” said Rajiv, adding: “This building has been tastefully designed to create unmatched shopping and working environments in line with our philosophy of satisfying the unmet need for affordable yet modern space.”
Shimoni served its purpose
Rajiv, defended the Group’s developments at a piece of land formerly occupied by Shimoni Demonstration Primary School, saying that a modern city needs matching modern infrastructure to meet the needs of a fast-growing population.
“Shimoni did its purpose; it is now time to develop the city into the metropolitan modern city that we all need. When Shimoni was here, Kampala had a small population, today Kampala has grown to close to 4.5 million people,” he said.
According to official census figures, the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) population in 2002 was 1.96 million people. In 2008 it was estimated at 2.5 million and was expected to reach 4.5 million in 2023.
At a growth of 4%, the GKMA population is growing faster than the national average of 3.3%.
“The city needs to grow and provide the necessary services for the people. As the middle class grows, they will need more and more office space and serviced apartments and other supporting infrastructure- we just need to develop our city,” he said.
Shimoni land was originally owned by the government but in 2006, the land was given to Kingdom Holdings in Dubai which was supposed to put up a five-star hotel for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) that took place in 2007.
Kingdom Holdings paid $2 million for the land.
In 2010, the land however changed hands to businessman, Ashish Thakkar’s Mara Group, who reportedly paid $2.6 million and said they would put up a shopping complex and a 34-storey hotel with 250 luxury rooms.
Mara Group is said to have entered into a partnership with Ruparelia Group, through Meera Investments, to develop the property.
