Broll Property Group, a South African based property services firm, will have an operational office in Nairobi starting August 1, it has disclosed.

This will take the number of countries the firm is active in to 15. Broll is part of the CB Richard Ellis affiliation network and will

operate the franchise whose 10-year agreement with a Kenyan firm has expired.

Broll has appointed a South African expatriate, Jonathan Yach, as chief executive officer of its Kenya office.

“Jonathan Yach will take charge of our Kenya office, expected to commence operations August 1,” read part of email communication from Leonard Michau, Broll Property Group’s head of Africa operations, to the Star.

The firm, which is the latest among several South African firms making a beeline for Kenya’s real estate market, will initially focus on retail space letting and management.

Michau said this is informed by “the expected pipeline of new retail developments and the positive feedback that we have received from existing retail landlords”.

Broll is already letting space at the upcoming Garden City mall to South African retailers seeking entry into the Kenyan market. Garden City mall is being developed by private equity fund Actis and will offload 50,000 square metres into the market.

“It is our intention to offer the full spectrum of property services, similar to what we offer in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, however it will take time to develop and implement the entire range of services,” Michau said in earlier correspondence.

It will also offer corporate advisory and broking services, which it said is a fairly active segment of the market, driven by corporate and institutional growth and the entrance of new international corporations in Nairobi.