Jomo Kenyatta-era minister’s kin put Sh4.5bn ranch up for sale

The sprawling 1,800-acre Malu Ranch, set deep in the heart of Naivasha and a choice colonial-era estate, is up for grabs for Sh4.5 billion, making it the most expensive property on sale this year.

Owned by the family of Bruce Mackenzie — the only white Cabinet minister in the Jomo Kenyatta government — the ranch is being sold as a single block, highlighting continued interest in the Naivasha basin as a vacation and farming location.

The buyer will boast historic colonial-era farmhouses and cottages, an airstrip and hot water springs and land teeming with game. The indigenous forest comprises 500 acres of cedar trees.

The Mackenzie family says it is selling the land to diversify their investments. However, it hasn’t mentioned the particular area of investment it is eyeing.

Of late, big ranches have come under pressure as the quest for land for both gated estates increases and as colonial land leases expire.

In some counties, especially in the tea-growing areas of Kericho and Nandi, local communities have started to put pressure on their governments to take over land whose leases have expired.

The family says that the land is reasonably priced compared to what other investors are giving off an acre of land for in the area.

“Gated developments are retailing for about Sh6 million an acre while Malu is offering at Sh2.5million an acre. On closer inspection it seems possibly undervalued unlike initially thought,” said the Mackenzie kin.

In recent years a strong local economy, a surging stock market and steady foreign interest have helped bolster demands in real estate with the Rift Valley region becoming an investors’ destination.

It is perhaps the story behind the property that makes it a realtors’ choice. Used by Italian prisoners of war who stayed in the Mahindu House built in 1943, it is one of the few remaining estates in Naivasha that has original cedar forests within the estate and with tourism investment potential.

“For many years it (Mahindu House) was occupied by Janine Singer who came with freed Lion and harboured dreams of an ethereal Joy Adamson world,” said one of the Mackenzie kin.

The Mackenzies, one of the richest families in Kenya, bought Malu Ranch in 2004 from the previous owner identified as the Nimo family. The Nimos held the land for generations, building several cottages that were used by their guests.

The ranch at the time was known to host the crème de la crème of Kenya’s society who occasionally stopped by during hunting safaris.

The Mackenzies, on acquiring the huge parcel of land, added cottages and have been running the Malu Lodge which occupies less than 50 acres of the ranch. It has a cosy Italian restaurant, one-kilometre airstrip and 1,000 acres of indigenous woodland.

Most of the original furniture at the lodge is made using cedar from the land. The owners say they have a hard time keeping loggers away.

“Malu has just probably the last piece of indigenous cedar forest on the Eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley. It’s home and sanctuary to Crowned Eagles and Leopard amongst many other interesting flora and fauna – a unique mixed high-end development opportunity,” he said.

The Malu Ranch has three kilometres of permanent river (River Malewa) which passes through the land, a warm natural spring among countless other springs. The spring has been turned in a plunge pool in the middle of the forest for leisure tourists.

The Sh4.5 billion land is one of the most expensive pieces of real estate to have been put on sale in Kenya in recent times. An attempt last year to sell a 134-acre parcel of land in Karen valued at Sh8 billion ended in contention.

Other expensive properties that came to the market in 2014 were the Sh304 million Amani Villa at Medina Palms in Watamu, the Sh800 million Union Towers in Nairobi, the Sh1.6 billion five-acre land in Kileleshwa sold by global property consultant Knight Frank, Hogmead, the Sh565 million boutique hotel in Karen and the Sh170 million penthouse at English Point Marina at the Kenyan coast.

READ: Nairobi home up for sale at Sh565 million

The Mackenzies have signed up Realcom Limited to sell the land, while Nairobi law firm Coulson Harney to oversee the transaction.

Malu Ranch borders the proposed Aberdare Hills and Golf Resort, the Morindat farm and Marula farm. It is also adjacent to the extensive government dairy land in Naivasha.

Other developments in the area are the Longonot Gate, the holiday, golf, leisure and conference resort in Naivasha and Buffalo Mall Development Ltd on the Lord Delamere land.

Simba Corp chief executive Adil Popat is also set to start construction of a Sh311 million budget hotel in Naivasha – a town that is considered a growth area because of large road networks set to pass through it.

READ: Popat family bets Sh3.1 billion on mid-priced hotels

Vision 2030 projects like highways and the standard gauge railway have been marked to meander through the Happy Valley.

The Mackenzie family still owns a number of prime real estate developments and land in Nairobi and Mombasa. Most of the properties were acquired by the children decades after their father’s death in 1978.

The senior Mackenzie was the only white minister in the Kenyatta cabinet and was agriculture minister until 1969 when he retired to do business and became one of the main shareholders of CMC Kenya among other blue-chip companies.

He died when his plane exploded over Ngong Hills while returning from a business trip in Uganda. The blast was blamed on then Ugandan president Idi Amin.

He is survived by two children and a wife — Alice Christina Bridgeman (her maiden name).