A US$ 25m shopping mall which is being constructed in Kisumu, Kenya is nearing completion and is projected to be the largest of its kind in the region. It is anticipated to help push up the property value in the area.
The mega mall which is being constructed by the Lake Basin Development Authority is a 27,000 square metres expected to constitute of a five-star hotel, a regional resource centre, more than 1,000 housing units as well as a complex consisting of three office blocks. This is besides serving as the headquarters of the Lake Basin Development in Kisumu.
The Lake Basin Commission chairman Onyango Oloo confirmed the reports and said that the building will be complete by August this year and it will transform the shopping experience in the region.
“The architecture of the mall takes on a contemporary and futuristic form with a curving roof that bears resemblance to a sail -an appropriate metaphor for the lake city,” he said.
The development is located at Mamboleo junction about 3.5km from the central business district and about 3km from United Mall that houses Tuskys supermarket. The interest in the region has however failed to translate into improved of housing situation in Mamboleo which is predominantly considered as an ancestral home by most residents in the area.
Lake Basin Development Authority is a State Corporation mandated to spearhead development in the Lake Basin Region covering about 72 constituencies. It accomplishes this mandate through mobilization of resources and assets at its disposal for equitable development. LBDA provides integrated planning, coordination and implementation of projects and programmes within the various river basins in the region.
When I was in high school at the lake side town,land prices in Mamboleo was paltry Ksh.30,000 an acre and Mamboleo was a bush only visited during the ASK Show .Now in another two years ,Mamboleo is just but a key focal center in the the city of Kisumu.