Nairobi County Government in Kenya has approved the US $65m Garden City housing project eight months after it was mooted. Mi Vida chief executive Chris Coulson confirmed the report and said construction of the first 208 units starts immediately. “We finally got our approval from the county authorities. It has been a long wait but we assure customers that construction will be completed on schedule. The contractor, Esteel Construction, is expected to complete phase one of the project within 24 months.,” he said.
The housing project is a joint venture by India’s conglomerate Shapoorji Real Estate (SPRE) and UK equity investor Actis. It involves construction of 628 apartments at Nairobi’s Garden City Mall Complex, targeting middle-income earners.
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Garden City housing project
The project dubbed ‘Mi Vida homes’ will be a mix of one, two and three-bedroomed apartments to be constructed at Nairobi’s Garden City Mall Complex. Construction will be completed in three phases. The first phase includes construction of a block rising 13 floors with a total of 208 one, two and three-bedroom units.
Mr Coulson disclosed that 90 units of the Mi Vida Homes had already been sold. The houses, which started selling off-plan at US $68,000 have shot up to US $89,000 on “increased buyer demand”, while the two bedroomed units going at between US $109,000 to US $128,000m. The three bedroomed units are starting at US $148,000.
Actis Global Head of real estate, David Morley said the project comes at a time when the country is facing a huge demand for affordable and middle-income homes. “The goal of the joint-venture platform will be to bridge the gap in this market. There is a notable lack of institutional quality home builders with the expertise, capital and consumer trust to truly address the opportunity at scale in Kenya,” said Mr David.
You can highlight the facilities you want to see on google maps and measure to Garden city mall. Karura forest is barely 5KMs from Garden City. I know because I live nearby and run to Karura every so often. On the question of provision of utilities: water; highly doubt the city will be able to keep up. some parts of Nairobi rely on water wells. garbage collection; in Nairobi it is mostly done by private companies paid for by residents. offstreet parking; not relevant to this location as all the parking will be within the garden city complex. I imagine. I hope that helps. However, this houses are not affordable to the middle income earners targetted.
A great project but i wonder whether the City of Nairobi will be able to supply water, electricity and other services like garbage collection and secure off street parking or public transport. It would be interesting to know if there are schools and recreational facilities close by.