Biggest Shopping Mall in Africa Set for Thika Road

The biggest shopping mall outside South Africa is set to be housed along Thika road.

The planned development is said to be a multibillion mixed use shopping mall comprising offices, a hotel, commercial and retail areas. Property development consultants say the move is bound to see property and land prices in the area rise further from the recent price increases after the expansion of Thika road.

The development comes as a result from an agreement between Actis (A London based private equity firm) and East African Breweries to sell them 32 acres for the real estate development.

Thika road is set to undergo a major transformation with the road nearing completion.

With every passing week traffic jams are becoming less and less frequent.  Access to other parts of Nairobi has never been so easy, with the Eastern and Northern by passes 10 minutes away access to what were previously impenetrable parts of Nairobi have become very easy.

Their project is a hybrid project and will include numerous apartments.

With these major developments coming in we can expect a large movement and redevelopment of existing plots on this stretch of road.

Land values have increased here exponentially and idle land is a scarce commodity.  Land values here in 2007 were approximately 5,000,000 per acre, in 2012 the same property is now valued at Kshs 50,000,000 per acre.  This factor alone is driving house prices in this area upward.

The question therefore is: Are these land prices sustainable? The answer to that is that for the foreseeable future these prices will hold and may even appreciate further. My personal opinion is that rate of increase will start to stabilize depending infrastructural development and the pressure on the infrastructure will inhibit the ambitions of many investors as they will become restricted in what they can do however, land prices will not drop.

The demand for decent housing and the ability to live further away from people’s place of work will continue to hold these prices stable as people look to live in suburbia.

Government legislation is also hindering growth.  It was recently reported that an investor in Kasarani was looking to build high rise apartments and had run into obstacles as this type of building has not been envisaged in out building codes.  Such projects are normal in other parts of the world but we as yet have not started to adopt these ideas.

How Real Estate Can Increase Your Income

Real estate gives various opportunities for people to increase their income and live a happier life. In fact, it is the considered as amongst the best possible way to increase your wealth.

The economic crisis that has spread its feet throughout the world has created a sense Continue reading “How Real Estate Can Increase Your Income” »

Advantages Of Custom House Plans

There are many people like you who dream to design their own houses. You must have dreamt about your own house where you have designed your kitchen and bedroom with your own imagination. When such things are going in your mind then why not go for the custom house plans idea? Continue reading “Advantages Of Custom House Plans” »

How to Handle Fluctuations in Current Mortgage Rates in Kenya

First and foremost fluctuations are not new to mortgage markets. Recently, it is common to hear about the sudden precipitous rise on their rocketing prices. Since mortgage rates are liable to fluctuate, it is very essential to know about the varying trends by knowing few things beforehand. Continue reading “How to Handle Fluctuations in Current Mortgage Rates in Kenya” »

Landlord’s rights are strong in Kenya

Kenyan rental market practice is PRO-LANDLORD.

Rents: Can landlord and tenant freely agree rents in Kenya?

There is no rent control, except for units with a monthly rent below KES 2,500 (US$35) as of January 1, 1981. Continue reading “Landlord’s rights are strong in Kenya” »

How to deal with badly paying tenants

Bad payers are a problem for all landlords and we’ve all found different ways to deal with the problem. The best solution is one that gets the tenant back on track and avoids a costly eviction.

I use the term “bad payer” to cover late payers, partial payers, check bouncers, and non-payers. There are a number of ways to deal with bad payers. Continue reading “How to deal with badly paying tenants” »

Why you should not rush to buy land in Athi river

The public has been warned against purchasing land in Athi River District until outstanding land issues are resolved.

Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia Tuesday said no further land transactions should be processed until a taskforce mandated with looking into irregular land allocation reports its findings.

He said Athi River has over the past two years been characterised by land disputes, where people invade public and private land and allocate themselves illegal plots using well-organised brokers.

While launching the task force, Kimemia called on those who bought land that is not genuine to report to the police and the taskforce for investigation.

“We are warning land grabbers to stop further invasion of private and public lands and further illegal developments and constructions,” said the PS. The 14-member team will look into and measure the irregular appropriation of public land and settle the squatter problem in the district.

According to the ministry, the land invaders are not genuine squatters but organised groups with intention of stealing and selling land to private developers. The team is also expected to identify all inconsistencies, irregularities and officials involved in land scandals.

By Emma Malin

Source:  from Standard Media Website

 

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