Investors called up for Nairobi’s 62,000-unit housing project

Wealthy investors are being sought to help build a 62,000-unit affordable housing project in Eastlands area of Nairobi as part of phase two of the Nairobi Housing Urban Renewal programme.

Earlier this month, Nairobi Metropolitan Services called for expression of interest (EOI) from investors in the banking industry, pension schemes, real estate and related sectors for joint venture partnerships.

According to the NMS Deputy Director General Kang’ethe Thuku, applicants will only be shortlisted for participation after demonstrating their technical and financial abilities in line with the requirements for the project as contained in the request for proposal document that will be shared with short-listed firms.

Mr Thuku added that the project seeks to provide adequate affordable homes in Nairobi so as to improve the quality of social-economic life of the city dwellers.

Estates marked for demolition

NMS has identified 10 old County Government estates that will be demolished to free up land for the construction of 62,000 affordable housing units. These include Embakasi, Woodley, Kariobangi North, Bahati, Ziwani, California, Jericho, Maringo, Lumumba, and Bondeni.

Most of these estates are characterised by dilapidated low-rise houses that sit on huge chunks of land.

Each of the 10 sites will be treated as a separate project, NMS said, adding that the high-rises will be built in a phased approach beginning with vacant sites due to existing tenants and the expansive nature of the estates.

“Interested financing and development partners are free to express their interest in any of the sites, multiple sites or all the sites. Applicants will therefore need to quote the sites they are expressing interest in, in their ‘Expression of Interest’ applications,” the NMS said in a public notice.

Multi-storey buildings

In Bahati Estate, 12,000 three-, two- and one-bedroom units will be built in multi-storey buildings of between six and 16 floors sitting on 20 hectares of land.

READ: Builders demand lion’s share of affordable housing deals

Some 10,000 units will be built in Lumumba; 8,000 in Maringo; 6,000 in Woodley; 4,782 in Ziwani; 4,000 units in Embakasi; 2,500 in California; 1,500 in Kariobangi North; and 774 in Bondeni.

Under the joint venture, the NMS in conjunction with Nairobi County will contribute land while the successful investors will build the houses.

On completion and sale of the units, the NMS, the county and the investor will split the returns, with the builder expected to recover the money invested towards construction of the houses.

The first phase of the Nairobi Housing Urban Renewal programme, comprising more than 3,000 units, is underway in different projects at Ngara and Pangani.

1,800 units are underway at Jevanjee Bachelor’s estate in Ngara, through PPP model by Jabavu Ltd., – with the county providing land. Technofin Kenya is building 1,434 units on Racecourse Road in Pangani.

The project is part of the government’s Big Four Agenda that seeks to, among other things, facilitate the building of half a million affordable homes in various towns of Kenya. 

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