Buyers jostle for a piece of Kenya’s single largest real estate project pushing land prices to USD102,108 per quarter acre

You will have to dig deeper into your pockets, much deeper in order to afford a piece of Kenya’s single largest real estate project and biggest satellite city.

The price of land at Tatu City real estate in Kiambu has shoot up by nearly a third to Sh10.5 million ($102,108) per quarter acre over the past 18 months after the developer recorded brisk sales last year.

American firm Rendeavour, which is in charge of developing the city on Thursday said that individual buyers snapped up 148 plots last year, or nearly half of what has been sold over the past three years, revving up demand and prices.

Tatu City is a 5,000-acre, mixed-use development with homes, schools, offices, a shopping district, medical clinics, nature areas, a sport & entertainment complex and manufacturing area for more than 150,000 residents and tens of thousands of day visitors

The residential land, dubbed Kijani Ridge, is part of Tatu City’s upcoming mixed-use development.

The Kijani Ridge residential zone is subdivided into 439 plots and sits on 250 acres of land, out of which 326 plots have been bought.

The land price for aspiring homeowners appreciated to Sh10.5 million per quarter acre plot from Sh8 million a year ago, according to Rendeavour Country Head Nick Langford.

Half an acre of land currently goes for Sh16 million ($160,000), up from between Sh12.5 million and Sh14 million ($140,000).

“What we are offering is a fully functional satellite city where people live, learn, work and play, something a kin to South Africa’s Sandton,” Mr Langford said in a media briefing.

Out of the sold plots, 186 are a quarter acres and 140 are half acres. The developer is in charge of laying infrastructure like roads, electricity and water, removing the hassle or aspiring homeowners.

According to the developers’ regulations, land buyers are required to set up their homes by 2021 and choose from a dozen pre-approved designs of villas and bungalows.