Kisumu investor’s plans for 7-storey Kitisuru mall blocked

Plans by the developers of Kisumu’s Mega City and Mega Plaza malls to build a Sh430 million shopping complex in Kitisuru have hit a brick wall after the Ministry of Land stopped the project following complaints by residents.

Shiloah Investments, a Kisumu-based company that has been in operation for the past 15 years, had intended to build a seven-floor mall on a 3.6-acre piece of land; targeting wealthy and middle-income residents of the area.

The project has, however, met stiff opposition from four resident associations that are protesting against the size of the mall, the fact that it was to be built in a residential area and claims that the development would harm the environment.

Lands director of physical planning Augustine Masinde has ordered a stop to the plans by Shiloah Investments.

“The developer wants to put up a commercial building in a residential area and if this is allowed, visitors to the mall will strain the public utilities and make the area degenerate,” Mr Masinde told the Business Daily in a telephone interview last Friday.

“The manner in which Shiloah got a change of user approval for the land from residential to commercial was also not procedural. We expect the developer and all relevant agencies to heed to what we have advised.”

READ: Kisumu Mega City owner in Kitisuru shopping mall plan

Shiloah Investments had planned to build a 49,136 square metres mall housing banks, food and beverage courts, office space, automotive shops and 809 parking spaces. Regulatory filings by the developers show that they planned to expand the road and construct underpasses and bus stops.

The project was to cater for an estimated 2,000 people (visitors and workers) who the developer anticipated would be visiting the mall everyday once it opened for business.

“This (visitor) number will grow at an assumed rate of five per cent per year,” Shiloah Investment stated in its filings. “The facilities within this mall will likely operate for 18 hours a day and it is considered reasonable to spread public transport over a 12-hour period daily.”

These plans were immediately opposed by four Kitisuru residents associations who wrote a letter to the director of physical planning protesting the planned development. The associations complained that the planned mall would be seven storeys high yet the limit for the area is four storeys. They also said that the planned site presented a risk to the environment as it is flanked by a river.

Mr Masinde agreed with their views and wrote a letter to regulators including the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) and the National Lands Commission informing them of the decision to stop the development.

“Nema and WRMA be advised to withdraw their licences and any approvals they may have granted the developer following the environment impact assessment process,” the letter seen by the Business Daily reads in part.

Kitisuru is currently served by the Spring Valley shopping centre and the OiLibya petrol station.

Nairobi’s shopping malls have increasingly moved to the periphery of the city, in residential areas. Most of the malls are, however, located outside high-end residential addresses such as Kitisuru – making Shiloah’s proposed development a unique venture due its location and size.