I am curious what is this being built in a day requiring all these materials?

The "dust bowl" of kitengela has become green. Very nice developments there ...complete with swimming pools, manicured lawns and picket fences. You'd think you are in California, USA.

https://www.businessdail...5408-ekfhuiz/index.html

Far from posing a mere logistical or aesthetic problem, it shapes–or perhaps more accurately, it circumscribes–our experience of life and our social relationships in insidious ways. The destruction of the pedestrian public realm is not merely an economic or ecological absurdity; it has real deleterious effects. For just one small example of many: life in a subdivision cul-de-sac keeps children from exploring and becoming conversant with the wider world around them, because it tethers their social lives and activities to their busy parents’ willingness to drive them somewhere. There’s literally nowhere for them to go. The spontaneity of childhood in the courtyard, on the street, or in the square gives way to the managed, curated, prearranged “play-date.” Small wonder that kids retreat within the four walls of their house and lead increasingly electronic lives. (The virtues of a private backyard are easily exaggerated; it’s vacuous and isolated, and kids quickly outgrow it.)
https://qz.com/698928/why-suburbia-sucks/

Amusing real estate conmanship habits in Kenya that I can never understand.

1. Bait and switch scam: An agent advertises in bold letters that he has a prime plot in "Kitengela" at a very appealing price per acre compared to prices in the area. You click the add with enthusiasm or call him urgently trying to get a site visit and he tells you it is in Isinya, Kajiado or Ilbissil and 5km from tarmac at that! Since when did those areas become "Kitengela." Sometimes you feel you want to throw such people into Lake Amboseli for wasting your time.

2. Runda -"View" scam: This one you already know of. Muchatha becomes "Runda View." Gachie becomes "Rosslyn View" and Maroroi/Kimuka becomes "Ngong view." Bure kabisa!

3. Terrible photo scam: Very prime area advertised for sale but with a terrible photo perhaps of the ground. You call the agent to find out where the place is and it quickly becomes numer 1 or number 2 above. Run like the wind whenever the agent puts a terrible photo in any advert anywhere.

4. Elusive title scam: This one usually applies to so called "40x80" or basically anything less than an 1/8th of an acre plotis. The area may be prime but please run away from these guys as fast as you can as there is no title for the plotis. If there is, those titles are 100% bandia. Run also when you start getting "stories" about title e.g. I have not subdivided yet, but as soon as you pay deposit I will subdivide. Danganya mwingine boss!

5. Black Cotton Soil scam: Be very very careful when buying plots on very sticky black cotton soil. They are usually found at the bottom of swampy areas or river valley beds. Ask the seller if you can bring your KYM guy to come and chimba a test hole to see how deep the murram or bedrock is. If he gives you stories trying to stop you from doing it, run. If he agrees and your KYM guy is still digging past 3 metres with no murram or bedrock in sight, run even faster!

Zingine?

Nyagah and Vimal are conmen....Take that to the bank

Are the foreigners also on the wrong in this entire Tatu saga?

Just curious what will happen to the multinationals which bought land within the Tatu Industrial Park plus the developers...

Is by any chance projects like Kijani Ridge at risk...?

Cytonn has done some wonderful analysis of real estate in Nakuru

“We are looking at Nairobi-Nakuru Highway that National Treasury has put up for bidders. I understand they will be announcing the successful bidder very soon,” said Mr Iyer.The insurance facility is to shield the winning contractors from non-commercial risks and improve their access to funding for the project.

“That is one project that is big and very transformational at it will strengthen Kenya’s logistical backbone. We are hoping that we will have a role to play in its success,” Mr Iyer said.

In November 2016, the National Treasury published the project memorandum for the 273 kilometre Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit segment of the highway as it invited private inves Summit segment of the highway as it invited private investors to bid for funding of the project that is to be built through public-private partnership (PPP).
https://www.businessdail...75000-2jb1p3/index.html

Wukan,

Seems you are easily impressed :). First of all these Cytonn guys are the last people you should be taking real estate advice from. They are yet to turn a profit in cash, their projects are all either stalled or about to topple down and they have legal woes to their necks! They try to sound smart but when you wade through the verbiage you find hakuna kitu wamesema ya maana. I usually appreciate background research of any kind. Doesn't mean I will rely on it but I appreciate that someone takes time to research and come up with findings

I would pick Naivasha over Nakuru 1,000,000 times over as an investment destination because the latter represents the past while the former represents the future.

1. SGR has completely bypassed Nakuru. Why on earth would you put your money in a town not on the corridor that will determine Kenya's economic future for the next 150 years? SGR like the lunatic express is not a game changer. Road transport(plus technology) will always be more dominant. In Europe I see places which are more developed were on the old Roman roads. Trading routes rarely change even China is going back to the old silk road. Plus I don't think SGR will go beyond Naivasha in my lifetime so Nakuru becomes the logistics centre

2. Naivasha has been voted one of the world's best investment destinations, and not just because it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is also caters to a more "posh" tourist element with bigger dollars and euros than crowded Lake Nakuru which is kind of a low budget destination. Naivasha gives me the feeling of Mombasa very slow, no dynamic, no vibrancy. You know Msa was established in 900AD and 1000 years later nothing much to report(I digress)

3. Naivasha has Olkaria, which has been the game changer in Kenya's power mix. The Industrial Park that will be located there will transform the area in more ways than you may believe. I believe there is some geothermal power exploration/production around Menengai. I have never seen how industrial area Nairobi transformed Nairobi property dynamics

4. Naivasha ICD is yet another monster project of a game changer. Imagine the jobs and demand for land that will emerge to service this dry port. Again Msa has had a port for 1000 years but the place has no funk. There is some place near the port which has some shop established in 1897 and it's remained the same for 100 years.

5. And let's not talk about Naivasha SEZ! When the Chinese manufacturers flood in there after Madaraka day next year, usiseme hujaambiwa! I don't think most Kenyans understand just how transformative the SEZ's will be once opened. Ask Ethiopia, or closer to home, find out what is going on at the Eldoret one so far and it is not even officially exporting yet. Kite/dustbowl was also established as SEZ for export promotion. It didn't really transform the place because the place transformed more as a dormitory town for Nairobi. Plus what I have seen of Cleveland manufacturing is quite fickle. Service or trade industry is more durable

6. Naivasha is more scenic, better organized and cleaner IMHO. Nice hills, Mount Longonot National Park, Hell's Gate National Park, Olkaria Spa, Lake Naivasha with all its world class lodges, Crescent Island National Park and soooo much more. Some Nakuru estates like the ones you mention are an eyesore worse than the BuruBurus we mentioned some time back. Mostly because they are older and poorly organised. I drove through some of them many months back and was shocked at how poorly organised and filthy some of them are. Everyone has a kioski peeping through their wall and the quality of the shop buildings (one story and porly built) is wanting even in the newly settled areas. The formerly "posh" estates like Milimani are now deteriorating fast to join all the other ordinary estates in the lower parts of town. Yeah Nakuru has this transit/stop-over feel to it which explains its erratic nature, hawker, retail set-up. Town planning is a big challenge. I think it suffers from years of under-investment which could change in the future

7. Naivasha is closer and more easily accessible to Nairobi from two major roads. Perfect place for holiday homes or retirement mansions. It is also more strategic as it is the crossroads/gateway to Nairobi, Narok/Western Kenya(via Maai Mahiu) and Nakuru as well. Trust me in retirement I want to be far away from Nairobi and all its never ending problems. Been here long time but nothing ever seems to improve not the air pollution, the chaotic streets, the overcrowding, water shortages. Naivasha looks to be an extension of Nairobi. I don't want crazy town following me. Nakuru still strategic it will connect the A8 and B5(to nyeri-northern kenya) roads

8. Nakuru-Nairobi highway will be nice but of not much consequence especially since all the major roads in Kenya are being tarmacked at rapid clip. SGR cargo and passenger traffic are what will be the big game changer in the region. SGR is not much of a game changer-human habits take a long to change. How many times did you use lunatic express?

For a whole Cytonn not to mention Naivasha while touting the glories of a dying city like Nakuru is amusing to me at best. The manufacturing industry long left that town. And other than a few big Asian business, Nakuru has basically remained static for much of the past decade. I am not saying it is a bad investment, I am just saying over the long term Naivasha will dominate and outshine Nakuru for very obvious reasons mentioned above. Unvless a link SGR is built to rope it in to civilization but so far I have not heard of any such plans in the woodwork. I can't ignore the fact that Nakuru real estate is still broadly pricier than Naivasha. Plus all the major retail success stories seem to start from Naks. Price is an important signal of value. I thought Naks was declared the fastest growing town in Africa sometime back. It's also on course to be declared a city-I hope it learns some lessons from Nairobi on how not to be a mad-house. But let's see how Nairobi evolves over next 5 years then we shall revisit

Ni hayo maoni yangu tu.