Nakuru office space prices more than double in two years

John Onyango arrived in Nakuru more than 23 years ago and says the town’s skyline and physical plan have greatly changed. While in 1990, Mr Onyango says, CK Patel was the only storeyed building with nine floors, today almost every corner has a building with more than five floors.

It is a booming business for property developers with figures showing commercial space prices have more than doubled in just two years.

“Gilani’s and Nakuru Mattresses (now Nakumatt) were the only supermarkets, but it is confusing the way things have changed. It is no longer the town I used to know,” says Mr Onyango, a cobbler who operates on Kenyatta Avenue.

Apart from the new buildings, motorists also report parking difficulties, a signal that the town’s motoring population is growing at a fast rate.

“The town is more congested than it used to be in the 1990s. Many people have moved into the town and every space available is being taken up,” he told the Business Daily.

Property development is booming due to the rising demand for office space that has more than tripled in the last six years as banks, supermarkets and universities seek space to expand business. This has pushed up office space prices by more 300 per cent within six years.

By 2008, a square foot went for an average of Sh30, in 2012 it rose to Sh60, and now a square foot in the ground floor in a building within the CBD goes for Sh130 and Sh90 for other floors. By December last year, there were 58 bank branches in Nakuru Town, according to a Central Bank of Kenya supervision report for 2013. The lenders are expanding rapidly after CBK allowed agency banking.

Behind Mr Onyango’s workstation, opposite Merica Hotel, there was a stationery seller but the location is now occupied by an Equity Bank agent. About 20 metres away is a bar and lounge operating from where an Uchumi supermarket stood. But it is not the big players alone fighting for space; small businesses have also joined the cut-throat competition in the battle for opportunities.

Equity Bank has two main branches with at least four ATMs and several agents sitting strategically on busy avenues. In the late 1990s, Egerton and Kabarak universities were the only institutions of higher learning in town. This has changed after seven varsities moved in, setting up satellite campuses and more than 25 constituent colleges.

There are more than 10 supermarkets, including Tuskys, Woolmatt and StageMatt having more than one branch. “Since 2008, there has been an increasing demand for wholesale commercial space,” said Sammy Kiguru, the managing director of Jojean Commercial Properties.

“Large corporates like banks, universities and supermarkets are coming to Nakuru town at unprecedented rate and they require huge space. This high demand has steadily pushed up the office space prices,” said Mr Kiguru.

Mr Kiguru noted that commercial developments will have to extend to the suburbs like Section 58, which is about two kilometres from Nakuru town.

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