Market News

Low-income houses set to be built on Nairobi’s Park Road

ngara

A section of Ngara Estate in Nairobi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU

Kenya and international mass housing developers have been invited to design, fund and build residential houses at Nairobi’s Park Road estate for sale to low-income earners.

The estate is situated in the Ngara area just next to the central business district and features heavy public service vehicle traffic. In a public notice posted in the dailies, the government said developers and their partners are expected to formulate designs that accommodate the houses together with related social and commercial amenities.

This is the second invite sent out to investors after the Mavoko project tender last January on the proposed 8,000 housing units to be built on a 55-acre parcel of land.

The Friday notice said applicants will be required to include a Sh40 million bid security from a reputable bank with the winning bidder expected to post a commitment fee equivalent to 10 per cent of the project’s value within 30 days after notification.

“The commitment fee will be deposited into an escrow account with a reputable bank in Kenya. Failure to which the bidder will be disqualified and the employer shall call on the bid security,” it said.

Inclusion of the private sector in the execution of public projects is a major paradigm shift from tradition where the government directly implemented projects whose cost was regularly reviewed upwards, while most stalled.