Towering luxury in Kikambala

By Peter Muiruri

Its name sounds more like a Hollywood blockbuster than a real estate development. However, Ocean Seven may as well be among the best as far as the provision of luxurious homes along the Kenyan Coast is concerned.

With more and more developers flocking to the Coast in search of suitable locations for real estate investments, the mega project comprising five residential and two commercial towers is set to change the face of an otherwise sleepy Kikambala Village, 32 kilometres from Mombasa City.

With an initial budget of about Sh15 billion, the all sea-facing towers boasting 325 condominiums, are being developed by Sun N Sand Beach Resort and will sit on 17 acres. They will take a V-formation in three levels with two parallel 17-floor towers; the next two 19 floors; while the centrepiece will reach a height of 25 floors.

Tower one

A recent tour of the site showed that the foundation, basement and ground floor of the 58-unit Tower One is complete with the entire project slated to take about seven years to complete.

At present, only the first tower is up for sale with prices ranging from Sh28 million for a two-bedroom unit measuring 2,250 square feet to Sh120 million for a four-bedroom penthouse measuring 8,900 square feet.

By building in a vertical manner, the developer hopes to free more land on the ground that will be turned into lush gardens with several water features that will assist in cooling the buildings.

Among the amenities planned for the project include a helipad, banking hall, a 50-metre infinity pool, gazebos, yoga decks and a two-kilometre jogging or walking trail.

The project hopes to embrace green architecture whereby rainwater will be harvested and stored in large water reservoir, production of methane gas, as well as wastewater recycling for use in the gardens.

International scope

To give the project some international scope, the developer has roped in a number of world-acclaimed professional bodies among them Arup — a global firm of service engineers, designers and consultants who are behind some of the world’s architectural masterpieces such as the Sydney Opera House and Beijing Olympic Stadium commonly referred to as the nest.

Others include General Electric charged with the responsibility of assessing the energy needs of the project as well as developing a reversal osmosis system for the towers’ water needs.

According to the resort’s managing director, Mahmud Visram, studies done in various parts of the world reveal that many people now want to enjoy the beauty that our beaches have to offer without necessarily living in the traditional hotels.

He adds that unlike the case in many other projects where buyers own a piece of property through partial leases, those in Ocean Seven will be given freehold title as they may want to reinvest in the property. Sun N Sand Beach Resort will manage the completed project in the interim.

“We should dispel the notion that beaches are only meant for wazungus (white people). We now have a sizeable population in Kenya and other parts of the world who are searching for a good home either for a holiday or a permanent residence,” says Visram.

Transform area

According to Visram, the project will transform the area more so, since it lies next to Kilifi, one of the towns earmarked for the development of a resort city under the Government’s economic blueprint, Vision 2030.

The developers also want to leverage on the two port cities of Mombasa and Lamu while providing direct and indirect employment opportunities to more than 10,000 residents of Kilifi County.

“The magnitude of the project is huge but we should remember that cities such as Dubai were also created from nothing. The project is going to set high standards in terms of real estate development with many pointing at it as an example of good practices that can be duplicated elsewhere in Kilifi County,” he says.

The Mombasa-Malindi corridor has attracted large housing projects including Vipingo Ridge and its world-class golf courses.

Visram says having such major projects within the same area poses no competition, but play complementary roles.

“I am sure residents of Ocean Seven will need to play some golf and there could be no better course on this side of the world than Vipingo,” he says.

The high-end residential development joins other projects within the greater Coastal region in slowly turning attention away from the traditional hospitality industry for which Kenya’s Coast is well known.