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English Point Marina

The 5-star facility was built at a cost of Sh5 billion.

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English Point Marina in Mombasa.
The English Point Marina in Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE

Located on a four-acre beach front site in Mombasa, with full access to the English Point creek, English Point Marina is East Africa’s first-ever 5-star marina.

The luxury development offers a range of facilities including 96 apartments, eight penthouses and 26-room Hotel English Point operated by the developers.

English Point Marina, whose construction started in October 2009, was initially scheduled for completion in December 2012 but that did not happen due to the difficulties associated with construction on a sea-front.

The project was completed in 2015 and first owners arrived early 2016.

According to Alnoor Kanji who owns English Point Marina, the facility that was designed by UK’s multi award winning architects Broadway Malyan was intended to attract tourism vessels and international water sports competitions.

“English Point is designed to attract cruising yachts, international boat races and water sports competitions such as wind-surfing and kite-surfing,” Mr Kanji said.

Other co-owners of the luxury development include Kanji’s wife Leila, brother Alnoor, sister-in-law Nafisa and Nazir Jinnah.

The marina has the capacity for six yachts out of a total of 88 berths. The yacht berths are on a floating pontoon marina ranging from 6m to 30m.

English Point Marina prices

The off-plan prices of the marina apartment ranged from Sh33 million to Sh50 million, while penthouses cost Sh150 million each.

The price later appreciated after the construction of the marina kicked off – with the same units selling for between Sh42.5 million and Sh82 million.

The penthouses were sold for Sh182 million each.

Court battle

In March 2022, 12 buyers jointly sued the developer for locking them out of their apartments on account of disputed service charge bills.

The buyers said that despite paying the disputed service charge, power had been disconnected from their units as the managers failed to account for the money.

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Through their lawyer – John Khaminwa – the investors told the court that the management of English Point Marina had introduced tough conditions that did not take into account the interests of the apartment owners.

“For example, the apartment owners are required to serve an earlier notice to the management before visiting their apartments, which is an absurd requirement,” Dr Khaminwa said in court papers.

He added that the management had barred domestic workers from accessing the apartments for cleaning purposes in the absence of their employers.

English Point Marina was also accused of blocking buyers from renting out their units, contrary to the purchase agreement in which the management undertook to assist in sub-letting in exchange for 30% of revenue collected.

The investors held that the management of the marina was constantly disabling security keys for apartment owners in a bid to frustrate their tenants and guests into opting for Hotel English Point instead.

The case continues.

Danson Kagai is a skilled architect with a degree from the University of Nairobi. He has a wealth of experience in covering mega projects in Kenya, and is passionate about the built environment.