Artist’s impression of the proposed Garden City/COURTESY
Groundbreaking for the Sh12.4billion Garden City project, which is located along Thika superhighway, will take place in December according to its owners.
London-based private equity firm Actis has announced that construction work on the mixed use development will start in December with completion targeted for May 2014.
The 32-acre development, whose construction will be led by Nairobi-based Mentor Management, will consist of a 50,000 square metres shopping mall (the biggest in East Africa), 500 housing units and a 4-acre central park with an outdoor house arena for staging events.
According to Actis Head of East Africa Michael Turner, Garden City provides a rare opportunity to make a world-class development directly serving the needs of Kenyan businesses, shoppers and home-owners.
“We have been encouraged by the strong demand shown by both local and international retailers, who like us see Garden City as a landmark destination in Nairobi and the East African region,” Mr Turner said.
Actis has a good track record in retail development in East and West Africa having built ten multi-billion shopping malls in seven African countries since 2004, including The Junction shopping mall in Nairobi.
Garden City becomes the latest real estate development along the new Nairobi-Thika highway. Other notable firms that have eyed investments along the highway include European furniture chain IKEA, Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets as well as PepsiCo which is putting up a Sh2.4 billion bottling plant.
The busy highway has also attracted residential property developments including the Sh2.5 billion Tatu City, Thika Greens, Migaa Golf Estate, among several others.
