Mt Kenya Holiday Homes project takes shape

Nairobi; Kenya: The ongoing efforts to facilitate the recovery of Kenya’s tourism products are expected bear fruit in the near future, as Mt Kenya Holiday Homes enters its second phase of construction.

The first phase of the Sh5 billion private investment project, which broke ground mid last year, has been completed. Construction planning for the second phase is in high gear after phase one sold out in record time. It is situated a few kilometres from Nanyuki town.

Main features of the project include a nine-hole golf course. This is designed alongside a collection of 95 holiday homes, each on a half an acre plot locked plan, a club house and a recreational centre.

The project, which is expected to be complete mid 2016, is bound to provide for the much needed tourist, meeting, destination wedding and conferencing facilities.

“We would like to assure investors that we are within schedule and that we will provide a unique hospitality platform for both the domestic and international market as well as the tourism circuit upon completion,” Project Manager Reginald Okumu said during a progress tour of the project.

 Integrated

The integrated project, founded on sound environmental conservation elements, will also feature a club house, recreational centre, swimming pool, gym, bush spa, helipad, solar heating and street lighting, a solar-powered perimeter fence and forest conservation area. The Mt Kenya Holiday Homes site location also has a rich variety of wildlife, including over 100 species of birds.

The project has claimed the enviable distinction as being the leading multi-billion shilling economic development in the Mt Kenya region.

“The vast Mt Kenya region has in recent years suffered economic stagnation due to lack of investment, but I am glad that a consortium of like-minded Kenyans is now set to bring the Mt Kenya Holiday Homes dream to life,” Okumu said.

With a three-year construction timeline, construction of the second phase of holiday homes is set to begin. Investors in Mt. Kenya Holiday Homes will also enjoy the benefits of a centrally managed tourist resort, to boost rental income.

The dormant Nairobi-Nanyuki railway line borders the 123-acre Mt Kenya Holiday Homes and Golf Resort. The standard gauge railway line is likely to pass through a proposed railway station in Nanyuki in the future.

As part of the project’s tourism development strategy, visitors to Mt Kenya Holiday Homes will be accommodated in homes of owners looking to earn rental income from their property.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Mt Kenya circuit has been suffering depressed growth due to low bed capacity.

Despite having an annual addressable market of about 300,000 visitors, only about 100,000 visit the circuit annually.