How Sudhir Mints Money through Modern Apartments
Sudhir Ruparelia with his wife Joystna after he won an award recently
He is known as East Africa’s richest, and Africa’s number 22, of continent’s top best 50 in terms of wealth. Today, we bring you Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia and show you how he has managed to mint money out of building luxurious apartments in Uganda.
In the recent past, most rental housing in Uganda used to be small but as a calculative businessman, Dr. Sudhir has decided to invest in large and modern furnished two and three bedroom apartments in Kampala city and its suburbs to supplement his many other ventures which include; banking, hospitality, leisure centers, education, conventions, to mention but a few.
Bukoto Heights Apartments, Dolphin Suites in Bugolobi, among others, are some of the live examples and due to the prevailing competition, all these apartments are fully furnished and serviced with air conditioned, DSTV, Wifi, housekeeping, water, electricity, and a secured parking purposely to attract the clients.
Sudhir says that he intends to open up opportunities for development of big multifamily-rental buildings as an effective way of stocking up affordable private-market housing, and to strengthen the foundation of new urban and suburban neighborhoods like it’s the case in Bukoto-Ntinda, Bugolobi, and other areas.
“I hope to ensure that greater production of afford-ably-priced new modern rental housing continue to be available in our communities,” Sudhir said.
His son, Rajiv Ruparelia who took over the supervision role at the new Bukoto Heights Apartments told Red pepper that, due to the increasing demand for apartment business, at Bukoto alone, they have close to 97 luxurious rooms, with modern facilities, furnished and none furnished up for grabs.
“From the drawing board and in a short time we have managed to set up these apartments because in our businesses, we treat people with utmost respect and courtesy irrespective of their color, creed, religion or age and it’s the only trick we use to mint money out of this business,” Rajiv said.
Meanwhile, small rental properties in Uganda naturally have narrow limits because the properties are often burdened by heavy debt loads and high property taxes from Kampala Capital Authority (KCCA), and the low incomes of tenants in many of the neighborhoods where these rentals are located make it impossible for owners to charge rents that might generate a healthier cash flow.
In Uganda, most owners of small rental properties have historically been long-term owners, holding their properties for retirement income, long-term capital gains, or to pass on to their children which is not the case with Sudhir.
He is one of the local investors who has become the most powerful driver of sales in many older urban and inner-ring neighborhoods that are heavily impacted by recent foreclosures and severe price declines but for him, he has always fronted quality to beat others in the market.
Currently, the Ruparelia Group of Companies owns more than 300 commercial and residential properties, including the Speak Hotels and Munyonyo Common Wealth Resort, Crane Bank, which is one of the top Uganda’s largest commercial banks, a chain of foreign exchange bureaus, Kabira Country Club, Boulevard building, Victoria University, KISU, Kampala Parents School, Delhi Public International School, among others.
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