Commercial Projects

Inside Kenyatta Family’s Sh500bn Dream City in Ruiru

The 11,000-acre estate is located 15km from Nairobi city centre.

Updated on

January 9, 2024

Northlands City will be built over a span of 50 years. PHOTO | COURTESY

The Kenyatta family is undertaking an ambitious real estate project that will result in an 11,000-acre mixed-use estate comprising residential, industrial, and commercial units hosting about 250,000 people.

Dubbed Northlands City, the development that is estimated to cost Sh500 billion, will occupy an 11,576-parcel of land in Ruiru – about 15km from the Nairobi city centre.

The land, which is traversed by the Eastern Bypass, is owned by the Kenyatta Family and is currently occupied by its dairy processor Brookside, and Gicheha Farm – the family’s livestock rearing business.

Northlands City Master Plan

According to the Northlands City’s master plan, some 3,570 acres have been earmarked for housing – with 3,134 acres set aside for low density housing, 306 acres for high density housing, and 130 acres for medium density residential housing.

The low density housing segment will have 601 villas and 1,320 town houses while the medium density area is reserved for 670 townhouses and 368 housing units in blocks of flats.

A total of 6,980 units on blocs of flats and some 3,100 townhouses have been planned for the high density residential housing area.

The master plan further shows that 390 acres have been set aside for a business district, including some 33 acres that are earmarked for a shopping mall or hotel and two acres for a clubhouse.

Northlands Industrial Park

Some 695 acres have been set aside for construction of an industrial park. Out of this, 650 acres have been earmarked for a logistics park, with the remaining acreage going to Brookside Dairies.

An earlier progress report indicated that the land reserved for industries had gone on sale at Sh40 million per acre following the injection of funds from the developer for infrastructure development.

According to Impact – a subsidiary of warehouse builder Improvon (SA) – and growth markets investor Actis, construction works that commenced in October 2018 will see the plots connected to roads, water, sewer, electricity, and the Internet.

The entire acreage has already been secured with a perimeter wall.

A detailed map of Northland City shows that 1,697 acres have been set aside for an open recreational space, including some 266 acres earmarked for water features.

The biggest chunk of the land — 5,156 acres — has been set aside for wildlife conservation and agriculture with Gicheha Farm as the main occupant.

The Northlands City master plan will be executed in four phases over a span of 50 years.