Commercial Projects
Inside Kenyatta Family’s Sh500bn Dream City in Ruiru
The 11,000-acre estate is located 15km from Nairobi city centre.
The Kenyatta family is undertaking an ambitious real estate project to develop an 11,000-acre mixed-use estate that will include residential, industrial, and commercial units, accommodating approximately 250,000 people.
Dubbed Northlands City, the development estimated to cost Sh500 billion will occupy an 11,576 parcel of land in Ruiru – about 15km from the Nairobi city centre.
The land, traversed by the Eastern Bypass, is owned by the Kenyatta Family and occupied by its dairy processor Brookside and Gicheha Farm, the family’s livestock-rearing business.
Northlands City Master Plan
According to the Northlands City’s master plan, some 3,570 acres have been earmarked for housing – with 3,134 acres set aside for low-density housing, 306 acres for high-density housing, and 130 acres for medium-density residential housing.
The low-density segment will have 601 villas and 1,320 townhouses while the medium-density area is reserved for 670 townhouses and 368 housing units in blocks of flats.
A total of 6,980 units on blocs of flats and some 3,100 townhouses have been planned for the high-density residential housing area.
The master plan shows that 390 acres have been set aside for a business district, including some 33 acres that are earmarked for a mall or hotel and two acres for a clubhouse.
Northlands Industrial Park
Some 695 acres have been allocated for the construction of an industrial park, with 650 acres designated for a logistics park, leaving the remaining acreage for other purposes.
Earlier reports indicated that the industrial land had been offered for sale at Sh40 million per acre after the developer injected funds for infrastructure development.
According to Impact – a subsidiary of warehouse builder Improvon (SA) – and growth markets investor Actis, construction works that commenced in October 2018 will see the plots connected to roads, water, sewer, electricity, and the Internet.
The entire acreage has already been secured with a perimeter wall.
A detailed map of Northland City shows that 1,697 acres have been set aside for an open recreational space, including some 266 acres earmarked for water features.
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The biggest chunk of the land — 5,156 acres — has been set aside for wildlife conservation and agriculture with Gicheha Farm as the main occupant.
The Northlands City master plan will be executed in four phases over 50 years.
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