A few years ago in Karen, there were not so many housing units but the increase of colleges has seen the influx of many students, writes JECKONIA OTIENO
They had the option to build high-class residential houses for the working class but instead they opted to provide shelter for the younger generation.
These investors would have gone the way others have done bearing in mind that Nairobi has a serious shortage of housing units which has forced many to move to the informal settlements such as Kibera, Mathare, Mukuru and Korogocho.
A few years ago in Karen, there were not so many housing units but the increase of educational Simon Ngure, Real Esate Investor
institutions has seen the influx of many students. A number of these students come from far that they cannot make to and from college to their homes every day. This has forced them to seek alternative accommodation away from home. With this influx, many housing units or hostels for students are coming up.
It is for this very reason that Simon Ngure, Peter Miti and Francis Muthukia decided to channel their investments towards providing shelter to the many students.
While there was initially just one institution, others have sprung up and this has pushed the need for student accommodation to new unprecedented levels.
These three investors saw this need and decided to pursue this line of investment; they now have housing specifically for students cutting from the high-end to the low-end of the market.
Ngure is among the first investors to provide housing for students in the area.
Product type
Ngure says that when he settled in Karen there was only one university, Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), which was not as big as it is today. He points out that by then land rates were not as high as they are today.
"I recall clearly that a half an acre of land would go for Sh50,000 in 1981 in this area but this started changing as the years flew past," notes Ngure.
