NAIROBI, Kenya, January 15, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and CDC Group plc today announced an investment of $32 million in a new mixed-use real estate development along the Thika superhighway in Nairobi.
The Garden City project is sponsored by Actis, and expected to create more than 650 jobs directly during the construction phase and over 800 more once completed.
Garden City will be built in two phases, comprising a 50,000 square meter mall, 20,000 square meters of office space, 421 residential units and a three acre park. The project will meet retail needs in one of the fastest growing areas of Nairobi. An estimated 1.5 million people live within the immediate, primarily residential, catchment area.
Koome Gikunda, Investment Principal with Actis said: “Garden City will become a genuine mixed-use community and an enduring landmark that the residents of Nairobi and the region can be proud of. CDC and IFC are bringing their experience and expertise in backing this vision. The scale and ambition of Garden City builds on Actis’s reputation as sub-Saharan Africa’s most experienced private equity real estate investor.”
Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said, “Garden City opens new business opportunities and creates jobs by providing a modern real estate platform for the supply of goods and services through local businesses. Garden City is actively working with IFC and CDC to encourage entrepreneurship and serve consumers through an initiative that aims to attract local artisans who will have access to affordable temporary market spaces.”
CDC Regional Director, Dolika Banda, said: “Garden City will provide vital jobs in Nairobi, and benefit the local economy through its supply chain, infrastructure and new opportunities. Few investors have an appetite for greenfield real estate projects in sub-Saharan Africa, so this investment sends a strong signal of our commitment to Kenya’s development and our confidence in its economic potential.
Phase one now underway involves the construction in 2014 of 33,000 square meters of retail space and 76 residential units. Anchor tenants include Nakumatt, and Tile & Carpet Centre with possibility of housing Game, a South African chain store.
The project is the first mixed-use development in Kenya, and will create a new asset class within the real estate sector. The building will be energy efficient in design. The sustainability measures to be incorporated
include: generating energy from waste heat; utilizing roof space for solar collectors to generate residential hot water; introducing “green belt” and lakes to receive storm water runoff; and installing rainwater harvesting.
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