Investor seeks to transform Malindi village with Sh23bn hotel

The proposed Sh23 billion 61-floor luxury hotel and residential facility, Palm Exotjca. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • According to the designer, the tower will also be home to a 270-bed hotel, shopping mall, and a nightclub. It will further have 180 serviced apartments, office suites, a conference centre, and restaurants.

  • The proposed mega structure has, however, sharply divided the community, setting one camp against the other, a split that threatens to spill to the corridors of justice.

It has near-perfect weather and one of Kenya’s pristine white sandy beaches. It’s a playground for the Italian rich, who come, not to flaunt their money but to quietly enjoy the sunshine within the privacy of their multimillion-dollar investments. Welcome to Watamu, a village outpost to some that is now attempting to pull off a Little Dubai feat, in its quest to host a Sh23 billion 61-floor luxury hotel and residential facility, and arguably one of the continent’s tallest skyscrapers.

PALM EXOTJCA

Sitting on 2.4 acres of LR No. Gede/Kirepwe ‘B’/369 on Turtle Bay Road in Dabaso, Kilifi, the 370 metres “Palm Exotjca” hotel resort, once complete, will overlook Watamu and Malindi Marine National Park. Designed by Rome-based architect Lorenzo Pagnini, the hotel will house luxury suites and a 24-hour casino.

According to the designer, the tower will also be home to a 270-bed hotel, shopping mall, and a nightclub. It will further have 180 serviced apartments, office suites, a conference centre, and restaurants. The proposed development will consist of a 61-storey building, two five-storey buildings to serve as parking and service buildings, and the auxiliary facilities to enable the project to operate optimally. The total construction area for the proposed project is 209,026 square metres.

The project is the brainchild of Giuseppe Moscarino, a Rome-based veterinarian and neurosurgeon. Others are the project’s CEO Oliver Nepomuceno, who splits his time between Europe, Africa, Asia and the US, “overseeing portfolio management for private clients” and Mr Pagnini, its lead architect. The three are working under a consortium of firms from Switzerland, New York and South Africa, backed by 89-year-old Italian billionaire Franco Rosso.

SHARPLY DIVIDED

If successful, the facility promises to change the fortunes of sleepy Watamu, thrusting it into the international limelight.

But there is a problem. The national government and some Watamu residents want none of it, and the glamour it will bring. The proposed mega structure has now sharply divided the community, setting one camp against the other, a split that threatens to spill to the corridors of justice.

“This mixed-use development is for the discerning traveller who appreciates life’s finer things. Sky rooftop restaurant and swimming pool as well as a spa and fitness room,” said Mr Moscarino in an interview.

Even the promise that the Sh23 billion project would spur the economy of the north coast region that depends on tourism hasn’t convinced its critics, who instead would rather see the project move to Mombasa, 106 kilometres away or Nairobi, more than 580 kilometres, and let the beauty and quiet of Watamu be.

NARROW ROADS

At the forefront of those opposed to the project is Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, who has written to the environment watchdog Nema seeking to revoke a licence it had issued for the construction. “That 61-storey skyscraper developed on a small plot in Watamu must not be built. I have already given my objection to Nema. If they want to build such a skyscraper, they should do it in Nairobi or Mombasa, not on the beach of Watamu,” Mr Balala said.

Critics say that as it is, Watamu barely has infrastructure to afford its 13,000 residents a decent lifestyle, with narrow paved roads, intermittent blackouts and its water supplier, the Malindi Water and Sewerage Company barely meeting the needs of its people.

They argue that such a mammoth facility in the village will outstretch its current infrastructure, bringing with it a complex problem no one wants to deal with.

OUT OF SCALE

Watamu Association chairman Michael Norton told the Saturday Nation that they are still opposed to project “The proposed site boreholes; ‘the beach wells’ in the marine park for the proposed desalination system; the daily disposal of some 580,000 litres of highly saline brine into the local aquifer; the development of an environmental safe composting centre for bio-gradable waste products,” Mr Norton outlined the issues.

The residents association argues that the project is out of scale and inappropriate for the area and had potentially such major negative cultural, heritage, social, environmental and economic impacts that it should be abandoned.

“In our opinion the project will totally overwhelm the landscape and the feel of Watamu village and completely spoil the very features that make Watamu a world-renowned, high-quality tourist destination,” Mr Norton said.

ENDANGERED SPECIES

He added that they have also identified no less than nine associated development projects that require under existing regulations project documents, ESIAs and planning permission and some of which must be completed before construction can start on the main Palm Exotjca Project.

Others opposed to the project are Kilifi County Alliance, Watamu hoteliers, local ocean conservation, Watamu Marine Association, A Rocha Kenya, Watamu Against Crime and Watamu Property Managers and Jiwe Leupe group under the umbrella of Watamu Association.

In addition to project’s likely effects on the environment, including threats to endangered species such as turtles, another reason raised for opposing it is the lack of adequate infrastructure to handle such a project such as roads, electricity, water and sewerage.

The Watamu residents association has already sought the services of a law firm — AF Gross and Company Advocates — to get the project, which enjoys the approval of the Kilifi County government, revoked. Documents seen by the Saturday Nation from various governments agencies approving portions of the project show that the owners will spend hundreds of millions to get supporting infrastructure if the project is to come to fruition.

PROVIDE JOBS

For instance, Kenya Power in October 2017 told the project owners that it requires Sh161.03 million to power the facility. This will include installing a 23MVA transformer at the 220KV/33KV Kakuyuni substation; constructing 23 kilometres of a 33KV overhead line and installing a 33KV metering station. Of this, the developers would undertake all the civil works running to about Sh131.9 million, said Ezra Ndenderu, the then acting general manager for infrastructure development at Kenya Power.

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority in April this year gave the developers its approvals for the expansion of the Turtle Bay Road. This will now see it rehabilitated and expanded (about 1km from the Gede-Watamu junction), providing adequate acceleration and deceleration lanes during the project operation phase.

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya says the project will create thousands of jobs for locals and spur the economy. “The investors should also consider giving locals jobs rather than ferrying people from outside,” he said.

LOW BUSINESS

On October 3, Nema held a public hearing for the project and surprisingly those opposed to it failed to turn up. During the public hearing, Mr Katana Ndurya, a resident of Gede and a community group leader, said locals support the project because it will create jobs.

“Our Governor Amason Kingi has also been on the forefront looking for investors abroad and even organised an investment exhibition conference to woo investors,” Mr Ndurya said.

Mr Rosso, who also owns Diamonds Dream of Africa and Sandies Tropical Village hotels in Malindi, says he is optimistic that the coastal town will soon become the next Miami in Kenya.

“The state-of-the art project shall be constructed soon at the Malindi beach and Coconut village hotels which were closed down over four years ago due to low business,” the investor told the Nation in Malindi while accompanied by his son Paulo Rosso and daughter Sara Rosso — who manage his properties.