Centum picks consultants for Real Estate Mega Projects

Centum Investment Company, the largest listed investment company in East Africa today announced that it had kicked off its regional real estate master planned developments by picking the consultant team that will lead their implementation.

The two real estate developments are located in Nairobi and Entebbe, occupying 100 acres and 300 acres respectively.

Speaking during a workshop with sales, marketing and financing partners, Centum Chief Executive Officer James Mworia said that the firm had opted to appoint world class consultants who will bring to life the expected quality of the master-plan developments.

The lead consultants are GAPP Architects and Urban Designers from South Africa, while the Project Manager is Acorn Management Limited. "Between them, the two GAPP directors leading the design teams have a combined half a century of experience in architecture and urban design including the urban design of the world renowned V&A Waterfront in Cape Town; said Mr. Mworia.

He noted that Centum was ramping up the development of its real estate investments and that the philosophy was to create new master-planned neighborhoods that were close to other trend-setting projects across the globe and would exceed the expectations of the customers.

"That is the motivation behind our decision to appoint a world class team of professionals led by GAPP”, he explained.

In both parcels of land, Mworia said that Centum intended to develop world class, master-planned, integrated and controlled developments that will have a blend of residential, commercial, retail leisure and hospitality facilities.

"Initially we are looking at phase one of the development in Nairobi covering about 20 acres that should be a truly iconic and signature development, combining an excellent location with the world's best practice in project development, construction and management to come up with something truly special", he added.

In order to provide a proof of concept and set the tone and character of the overall development, Centum will be the lead equity investor in Phase I of the Project with a clear intention to sell or lease a finished product, He pointed out that Centum would also be partnering with financial institutions both in construction financing and in financing the mortgages.

“Although we are at concept stage, Centum and the development team is committed to have completed the master plan by October-2011 and will be ready to break ground in phase I by June-2012.” added Mworia.

While addressing the workshop attendees, Mr. Mworia emphasized the importance that Centum places in partnering with sales and marketing professionals to ensure that the development would be designed to suit the market and in this way distinguish the development in its responsiveness to market requirements.

In 2009 Centum made a decision to increase its investment activity in real estate and focus on the development of new master planned developments.