By Francis Ayieko
A major development in Kenya’s booming real estate business is the increase in demand for well-planned neighbourhoods. Gated communities and resort cities, formerly the preserve of well-heeled Kenyans, is now all the rage even among the lower-middle class.
And developers are swiftly responding to this demand. In Naivasha, for instance, Longonot Gate, a mega resort city described by its backers as a leisure homes, golf and conference development at the foot of Mt Longonot, is changing the area as hundreds of home-seekers move to buy plots to build leisure homes.
Sitting on a 2,400-acre fully-serviced piece of land hived off the expansive Kedong Ranch bordering Longonot National Park, Longonot Gate, launched officially in August last year, will house about 1,500 country homes boasting a gated satellite community with an 18-hole world-class golf course, a man-made lake, a hotel, a conference centre, a university and a shopping mall, among other modern amenities.
“We are targeting first-time homeowners who want to live and work in a well-planned community in Naivasha. We also have people who already have homes in Nairobi but prefer to spend the rest of their lives in Naivasha, and leave their first homes in the city to their children or rent them out,” says Lee Karuri, the chairman of Longonot Gate Development Ltd, developers of Longonot Gate resort city.
Karuri says they decided to venture into such a project after realising that there was a high demand for second homes among Kenya’s burgeoning middle class. He says many Kenyans are finding that recreating out of the busy city life is important.
holiday homes
“Many Kenyans, over the years, have become affluent and are looking for ways of relaxing from the busy city life. They have realised that instead of taking holidays in hotels, they would rather recreate in homes away from the city where it is less expensive and they can stay longer,” he says, adding that holiday homes can also be used to generate revenue in that when you are not occupying it, you can rent it out.
Investors at the Sh85 billion Longonot Gate have been buying half-acre plots for Sh4 million. Some of the residential plot buyers are expected to start putting up their homes this month. Currently, they are selling fully serviced commercials, which will host facilities like petrol stations, schools, a university, hospitals, spa, eco-lodges, polo field and stables, and an office park.
According to Karuri, the project has received a lot of public interest since its launch last year. This, he says, is mainly because of the concept behind it (country leisure homes) as well as its location near a tourist circuit with easy access to attractions such as Mt Longonot, Hells Gate National Park, Lake Naivasha, Lake Elementaita, Lake Nakuru and the Aberdare Ranges.
The basic infrastructure such as security, access roads, boreholes, 14-kilometre patrol track along the internal boundary of the entire property, and a new by-pass gravel road have already been put up.
The project backers have also graded access roads linking the facility to the Maai Mahiu and Moi South Lake roads. And with Naivasha only some 70 kilometres from Nairobi, Longonot Gate is attractive for urban dwellers seeking to live in a serene semi-urban environment with ease of access to the capital.
For prospective buyers, Karuri has this promise: “Our investment policy is to deliver what we have promised. We have kept all our milestones since the launch.”
