Went to Property and Home Living Expo at Sarit Centre this past Sunday. What can I say….it was the usual…save for the fact that is was at a much smaller scale than the usual Homes Expo we visit at KICC in April and October. This expo is apparently in its 12th year – I could have sworn it has only been around 2 to 3 years. Although it had few exhibitors, I felt those who participated were serious and the event was focused more to the individual home buyer and not developers and therefore there were less suppliers at this expo. Infact, I think I only saw Climacento.

A brief on the exhibitors I noticed this year below:

1. Knight Frank: They were at the entrance and as usual they had a lovely stand with very knowlegeable staff. They did not have any exciting new properties but I did notice that they have been contracted to manage quite a number of NEW malls. I mean Nairobi is headed the Joburg way where we have malls in every neighbourhood. I was shown plans for a couple of exciting malls such as The Garden City Mall on Thika Road http://gardencity-nairobi.com/(Nakumatt and Game will be the anchor stores), The Rosslyn Mall just past Village Market, The Two Rivers Mall close to Rosslyn – Two Rivers is a stunning masterpiece of a development – cant wait to see it up http://www.tworivers.co.ke/. Also coming up is the Athi River Centre and the Hub in Karen.
2. BVB Home: A new interiors company in Riverside – they had interesting tiles although in my opinion very mute….a very European style.I have not been to their showroom yet but I hope they have a wider selection there. They are importing their tiles from Spain 
3. AMS Properties: As usual they always have lovely properties and word on the street is that they are launching a five star meadows 2 opposite Paradise Lost. If you have been to Five Star Meadows then you know that AMS properties are a developer to watch and anything they put up is sure to be a worthwhile investment. For more info on their other developments see http://www.amsproperties.co.ke/
4. Duracoat: They had an interesting stand showcasing some of the fancy interior finishes. I was told to visit their showroom at Valley Arcad to get more inspiration.
5. Kenwood Villas: A nice new development in Kikuyu town. Lovely 2000 square foot houses with each house sitting on an eighth of an acre. Price at the expo was 17.5million. They look good but I think they are too far inside Kikuyu to command that price but hey…Nairobi is growing so in the next 10 years that will pretty much be in town. The Project manager on this project is Pinnacle Properties.
6. The Rivera – Nyangumi Road – Now this project I have been watching it closely since they broke ground last year. For starters, they are in my neighbourhood and secondly, they have made Nyangumi road a pot hole nightmare. I am sure they do not take all the credit for that alone as there are other developments on the same road but I sure did notice their development board because of that. Having said that, the development is looking good and I understand they only have very few units left. The location is perfect – they are definitely a good buy but only if you have the money to buy it cash. At 25million bob, the rents will not service a mortgage. The developer is Kings Developers – definitely very solid. They also have a commercial complex in the area ie Sifa Towers.