Business Daily
Date: 25.04.2016
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Dubai group lifts Nairobi's
skyline with 35­storey tower
Consortium o:local
and foreign investors
to build Sh5.5bn hotel
and apartments
complex on former
Kenya Railways land
BY NEVILLE OTUKI
A Dubai­based investor has
launched an ambitious plan to
Authority (Nema) to start
construction through a con­
sortium known as Greenfield
build a Sh5.52 billion towering
complex in Nairobi comprising
a shopping mall, office block and
a hotel modelled on Singapore's
is set to cement the status of
Iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Abcon International LLC, a
real estate and drugs company,
has teamed up with six local in­
Upper Hill as a property invest­
ment hotspot, having attracted
multiple local and internation­
al firms in the past decade.
vestors to develop the property
on a 3.57 acre piece of land it ac­
quired at a price of Sh650 million
four years ago.
The 35­storey skyscraper will
be located in the city's commer­
cial district of Upper Hill.
The mixed­use development
will also feature luxury apart­
ments and an amphitheatre.
Kenya's property market
has boomed in tower, Page 4»
Developers Ltd.
The multi­storied complex
Commercial districts like Upper Hill
and Westlands, on the peripheries of
central Nairobi, are turning into big con­
struction sites as investors eye handsome
The proposed 18­floor hotel
returns from demand for top grade office
and retail space.
The shine on Kenya's property mar­
ket has in recent years
pulled in multination­
als in droves, especially
will host a rooftop swimming
Chinese firms that now
pool that is modelled on Singa­
pore's Marina Bay Sands Hotel, according
to Hass Consult, a Nairobi­based real es­
tate firm that is managing the project.
Hass Consult is doubling as a share­
dominate the sector.
holder in the Sh5.52 billion mixed­use
commercial development.
Apartments will occupy 17 floors, office
space 22 floors while 1,320 parking bays
will sit on six basements and ground floor.
Retail space will be located on the ground
»From Page i recent years, catch­ floor, and the first and second floors of
ing the eye of deep­pocketed foreign de­ the building whose location has a heavy
velopers from China, India, Britain and human traffic expected to offer ready de­
mand for businesses.
lately the United Arab Emirates.
Abcon and the local investors have
"It is going to be a landmark piece of
sought approval from the National architecture, whose cost estimates could
Environment Management
search and marketing at Hass Consult.
rise," said Sakina Hassanali, head of re­
Chinese investment
firm Avic International
is constructing a Sh9.6
billion complex in West­
lands, comprising a
35­floor five­star hotel,
apartments and43­floor
office blocks.
Avic last year also got
approval from Nema to construct 110
luxury apartments in Nairobi's Kilimani
estate at a cost of Sh4 billion while China
WuYi, another Chinese firm, is also busy
in the Kenyan real estate market.
Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, who
was last year ranked 37th richest man in
the world, has a big presence in Kenya
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
Business Daily
Date: 25.04.2016
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through his local company Delta Corpo­ 0.66 per cent stake.
ration East Africa. The firm has recently
Mr Saini was in the eye of a storm in
developed the Iconic Delta Corner twin 2012 after it emerged that Clinix directors
towers in Westlands and another tower had pocketed millions of shillings using
in Upper Hill which it sold to the World ghost clinics to enrol civil servants in a
Bank.
medical scheme by the National Hospital
The World Bank purchased Delta Cen­ Insurance Fund (NHIF).
tre from Mr Ambani to host its Kenyan
offices at a cost of $22.8 million (Sh2.3 bil­
lion) while consultancy firm PwC bought
one part of the Westlands tower.
Multi­billion shilling Garden City Mall,
which opened its doors last year on Nai­
robi's Thika Road, is owned by the British
investment firm Actis.
The proposed complex in Upper Hill
will be located next to Railway Golf Club
at the junction between Haile Selassie Av­
enue and Lower Hill Road, close to the
British High Commission.
Local investors are increasingly opt­
ing to create consortia involving foreign
companies with financial muscle and ex­
pertise to take on mega projects.
Abcon is the largest shareholder of the
Greenfield Developers Ltd consortium
with a stake of 62.6 per cent, followed by
a Kenyan firm, Signature Development
Ltd at 18 per cent.
HassConsult has an 8.6 per cent share­
holding, while businesswoman Elise Adan,
the owner of Nairobi­based fashion com­
pany Tullia Ltd, has 2.6 per cent.
Ms Adan previously served as country
managing director of Dubai­based Suzan
Duty Free shops at Jomo Kenyatta Inter­
national Airport in Nairobi.
Businessman Jayesh Saini, the chair­
man of controversial Clinix Healthcare, is
yet another individual shareholder with
Other shareholders of the consortium
are Ilmi Investments Ltd and Bliss GVS
PharmaLtd.
The consortium bought the 3.57 acres
of prime land at a cost of Sh650 million
in 2012 from the Kenya Railways staff
pension scheme.
It is located 500 metres away from the
city centre and convenient for commut­
ers­ a factor that partly guides develop­
ers and tenants of office space.
The construction is set to create hun­
est shopping mall in the region.
Two Rivers, which comprises a shop­
ping mall, hotel, office blocks and apart­
ments, sits on a 102­acre piece of land on
Limuru Road in Kenya's capital city.
Global firms making their first entry
into the region have booked space in the
project, including French retailer Car­
refour and Virgin Active, a platinum
health club founded by billionaire Ri­
chard Branson.
The frenzied activity in the property
market has, however, has stoked fears of
a glut that could cool activity.
Areal­estate tracker by financial serv­
ices company Britam shows that there
is an oversupply in retail space and big
malls in Nairobi.
"Beyond the Two Rivers Mall expected
to open by the end of this year, no further
retail space will be required in Nairobi,
as there will be oversupply," Britam As­
set Managers CEO Kenneth Kaniu said
at a property investment summit early
rates, NGOs and State agencies which this month. Knight Frank and Cytonn In­
have been moving away from Nairobi's vestments have also expressed concerns
over a possible glut.
central business district.
[email protected]
Britam, UAP, Equity Bank, CBA, KCB
dreds of jobs and demand for building
materials. Upper Hill has emerged as a
key commercial district attracting de­
velopers in droves owing to growing
demand for office blocks from corpo­
Bank, Coca­Cola and UAP are some of
the firms that have offices in the area or
it
Apartments will
occupy 17 floors,
Real estate has for long been seen as
office space 22 floors
a safe investment bet, making it among
popular cash­generating options for com­ while 1,320 parking
panies in the local economy.
bays will sit on six
are constructing skyscrapers for letting
out space.
Centum Investment is putting final
touches on its Two Rivers Development, a
multi­billion shilling real estate project in
Nairobi that is designed to host the larg­
basements and
ground floor
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
Business Daily
Date: 25.04.2016
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UAP tower
the area or are constructing skyscrapers for letting, file
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya