Estate targeting middle-income earners to be built at Clay works
Great Wall Gardens, comprising of 1,000 two-bedroom units and 1,000 three-bedroom units, which are going for Sh3 million and Sh3.5 million respectively. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Apartments are becoming increasingly popular compared with stand-alone houses as developers seek to maximise returns on expensive land.
- Chinese developer Erdemann Property Ltd has been undertaking large-scale apartment developments for the last several years, offering competitive prices for its units.
A new estate targeting middle-income earners is to be built at Clay Works along Thika Road, adding to the housing offers along the highway.
The apartments, developed by Agricultural and Industrial Holdings Ltd, will cost Sh2.95 billion.
Apartments are becoming increasingly popular compared with stand-alone houses as developers seek to maximise returns on expensive land.
“The proposed project will involve the construction of 560 apartments in 14 blocks on a piece of land measuring 16 acres,” the project owners say in filings to the environment regulator. “The need for this project is largely triggered by the need to improve residential housing conditions in Nairobi City County.”
The houses will be two and three-bedroom units.
The project also involves the construction of a community centre but the report does not indicate what facilities it will have.
Other features include an electric fence, a borehole, a power substation and a water reservoir.
The project is relatively large compared with other developers in the country and offers a chance for cheaper houses due to economies of scale.
Chinese developer Erdemann Property Ltd has been undertaking large-scale apartment developments for the last several years, offering competitive prices for its units.
It is currently selling off-plan a 2,000 apartment project in Athi River. Dubbed Great Wall Gardens, it comprises 1,000 two-bedroom units and 1,000 three-bedroom units, which are going for Sh3 million and Sh3.5 million respectively.
The price of land in Nairobi and its satellite towns has shot up in the last two decades and has become a major cost for ddevelopers now prefer apartments, which allow them to build more units on limited space.
In most areas around Nairobi, the cost of an apartment ranges between Sh5 million and Sh8 million for the middle-class focused units, with the location, finishing and additional services affecting the price.
The government recently introduced a tax incentive for developers who build more than 1,000 low-cost housing units as the State looks to lower the cost of houses, which has made them unaffordable to most Kenyans.
Finance Secretary Henry Rotich said that such developers will pay corporate tax of 20 per cent, down from 30 per cent.
