A 22-storey high-rise apartment and commercial tower unveiled today is set to propel Nairobi’s journey into the league of some of the world’s top cities.
The new 3.5 billion shillings ($41.5 million) project Le Mac, was launched by Mark Properties Limited and will be the city’s first high-rise apartment and 360 degree rooftop restaurant.
This is the third real estate project by Mark Properties after Mac Gardens and Mac Apartments, and is expected to be completed in late 2015.
“The Kenyan real estate market is rapidly growing, and is getting to a point where there is a growing demand for what can only be described as a wholly higher level of design and delivery,” said Ravi Vasta, Managing Director Mark Properties.
Nairobi is among the top 20 cities shaping the future and set to lead the world by 2050, according to the 2012 Wealth Report by Knight Frank.
The state of the art building will have a business space on the ground floor that includes a banking hall and the Le Mac Coffee lounge with complimentary Internet access for visitors. The next 6 floors will be dedicated to office and commercial space.
This comes at a time when demand for office space is soaring in Nairobi as international firms set base in the Kenyan capital.
Multinationals which have set base in Nairobi recently include Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtelwhich operates its Africa regional office in Nairobi, Visa, MasterCard, IBM, HSBC, Nedbank, Nestlé and General Electric.
London based private equity firm, Actis, recently pumped 1.85 billion shillings ($22 million) to extend its Nairobi Business Park citing growing demand for office space.
“We are attracted to Kenya as an office investment location in part due to the strong demand we see from companies increasingly using Nairobi as a regional hub that will serve East and Southern Africa,” said Koome Gikunda, investment principal at Actis.
Le ‘Mac will also have three types of apartments from standard apartments, through luxury and to high-end duplexes of up to 400 square metres of accommodation catering to the chic lifestyle of its residents, across studio, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments.
“Le Mac has been designed for the urban chic who love living in the city and enjoy the luxury that comes with it,” said Ravi.
Mark Properties was launched in 2004 and has since focused on the luxury accommodation market.
There are several golf estates and gated community real estate projects being undertaken currently targeting Nairobi’s growing middle class. Nairobi was ranked among the top prime international residential zones in the 2011 Wealth Report by Knight Frank.
