East Africa’s first Marina resort

By FREDRICK OBURA

Mombasa is preparing for a transformative contemporary property development intended to attract high-end investment and tourism.

The facility will target tourists from the growing luxury boating world and will be built at a cost of Sh4billion.

Developers of the property, EnglishPoint Marina, say the facility, which is expected to change the Mombasa city tour experience, will put Kenya on the map of the huge luxury boating markets in the Mediterranean region.

It will place Kenya at par with countries such as Egypt, Dubai, South Africa and the Far East.

New market

"We are bringing to Kenya a whole new market of affluent people and once they come they can venture deeper into the country," says the project director, Alnoor Kanji.

Situated on a spectacular waterfront across the creek from Fort Jesus, EnglishPoint Marina will be an iconic and landmark multi-purpose development.

The property sits across the magnificent skyline of Mombasa and will feature onsite facilities such as a hotel, conferencing rooms, a roof-top restaurant, a casino, swimming pool, serviced apartments, sea front restaurant of international standards, spa and gym, boardwalk with retail outlets, underground car parking and water-sport centre.

EnglishPoint Marina is expected to further attract international boat races, fishing competitions and small luxury charter services capable of doing private cruises to Lamu, Zanzibar and other Coastal destinations.

The concept comes at a time when the tourism sector is expected to grow. Recently, the sector reported a 16 per cent rise in international arrivals for the first quarter of 2010 due to market diversification efforts, which have lured new tourists from China, India and the Gulf region.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala who graced the launch of the multi-million dollar project and said the development ties in well with Kenya’s development blueprint, Kenya Vision 2030.

Repositioning of the Coast circuit, opening under utilised parks and providing niche products are the key drivers towards the Government achieving this vision through the tourism sector.

Choice destination

The aim is to make Kenya one of the top ten long haul tourist destinations, offering diverse and high-end experiences by 2012 to target five million tourists per year.

"With landmark investments such as this, our aim is not a long shot," said Balala.

The development has been designed by multi-award winning architects, Broadway Malyan in the United Kingdom. According to an annual ranking survey by Architects Journal thanks ranks UK’s top 100 architecture practices, Broadway Malyan is ranked among the top ten.

Only recently, Mombasa played host to the 100-meter luxury boat owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Unfortunately, the vessel had to be moored mid-stream with no service facilities.

"EnglishPoint will have a fully serviced five-star marina capable of mooring 80 to 100 boats; it is the first of its kind in East Africa," says Kanji.

The sheer magnitude of this investment will herald the creation of more jobs in the services sector. The developers project a work force of 400 during the two-year construction phase and a workforce of 200 when the development is completed in August 2012.

The apartments will provide a wonderful opportunity for international and local investors to own a piece of this unique development and lifestyle.

EnglishPoint Marina comes on the verge of an anticipated expansion of Mombasa Port, which will require high-end real estate to accommodate the influx of professionals and managers.