Nakuru is my shaggs – proudly! This is one town that never ceases to amaze me – its people, the businesses, the henging, the farming but most of all its potential. Located only 2 hours away from Nairobi, this town is perfect for a country escape with a city touch. But, despite all this, Nakuru until now did not have a proper gated community. Most homes seem to be individually developed and the few developments that have come up in the recent past are either apartment complexes with no more than 48 flats per project or small scale townhomes. This is why this project by seasoned developers, Tamarind Properties, catches my attention.
According to the developers website, this project will cost the developers a whooping Kes. 1.2 billion (approx. 12 million USD) and the starting price for individual 3 bedroomed units is Kes. 10.2 million (102,000 USD). I am yet to visit the site i.e. Free Area in Nakuru but if what I am reading is anything to go by, I would urge you to stay tuned for updates on the one project that will begin the wave that will change the housing landscape in Nakuru.
Infact, the Nakuru Governor, Kinuthia Mbugua, officiated the ground breaking ceremony. See details below as captured from the Nakuru County website.
NAKURU, Kenya 27th June 2015 – Approval for development projects in Nakuru County now takes 30 days or less.
Speaking while officiating the ground-breaking ceremony of a 1.2 billion shilling housing project in Freearea to be known as “Nakuru Meadow” Nakuru County Governor Kinuthia Mbugua affirmed the commitment of his government in helping developers within the county.
‘We are instituting measures that will ease developers work. Nakuru County has reduced the time taken to get development permits approved, through our Spatial and Urban Development Plans we will be able to services developers with crucial information such as on which zones are the most viable’, said Kinuthia.
The Governor further said that this plan will also assist Nakuru achieve guided development that provides related infrastructure to housing sector such as water, sewers, electricity access roads among others.
‘The demand of affordable and quality middle-income housing units is tremendously increasing in the County. Over 10,000 house units are needed annually to house the population of Nakuru Town which of late has been rapidly growing’, said Governor Mbugua at the project site where 140 middle income housing units will be built on the 13 acre piece of land.
He added, ‘the 2009 population census indicates that the population of Nakuru is 1.8 million people, however, my assessment based on the clustering of people in Nakuru lately by now the population of the county over two million’.
Lauding the Nakuru Meadow initiative as timely to help provide more housing units in Nakuru, the Governor added, ‘currently, every year 2000 units of houses are built in Nakuru leaving a deficiency of 8000 units, what we are witnessing today is the beginning of the reduction of the shortfall and this will also see the enhancement of various infrastructure within the area like sewers, streetlights and security.
Mr. Joe Mungai, the Managing Director Tamarind Properties Ltd, the company that is managing the project commended the commitment of the County Government of Nakuru to development and speedy approval of projects.
‘Your presence here today is a great encouragement to investors such as us, Tamarind Properties and our financial partners, the Pan African Housing Fund, who are headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and who have come all the way to invest in Nakuru’, said Mungai.
He added, ‘this is the first project that we are undertaking outside Nairobi Metropolis and based on the support we have received from the County Government of Nakuru we are going to do two more projects in this county as soon as we are able to get suitable land of approximately 10-20 acres’.
The representative of the Pan African Housing Ltd, Mr. Okomboli Ong’ong’a said that this project will have economic impacts within Nakuru County.
‘During the construction of these houses 200 jobs will be created, said Okomboli.
This initiative is a partnership of Tamarind Properties, Pan African Housing Fund and the family of Mzee Caleb Muibu, a prominent and respected member of the business fraternity in Nakuru.
Present at the function were Nakuru County Secretary J.M. Motari, Minister for Lands, Physical Planning and Housing, Racheal Maina, Nakuru County Public Service Board Chairman Dr. Waithanji Mutiti, MCA’S among other officials from the County Government of Nakuru.
ENDS.