Kisii town has grown rapidly in the last few years, outstripping its planners’ original estimate for a population of 50,000. It is now home to more than 200,000 people, with the number set to expand as business and investment opportunities increase.
Its housing sector has also seen a boom over the same period, driven by a vibrant tertiary education sector, banking, insurance, agribusiness and rental businesses.
This sudden population increase saw the rents of most business premises and residences shoot up, bringing an unexpected windfall to landlords.
As a result, plans are underway to build Kisii city in Kisii County. The proposed city project was hatched during the Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kisii Town in February. A deal has already been signed with a Chinese firm, Boleyn Magic Wall. The construction of the proposed Kisii city will take three years, and will be undertaken jointly with a local property developer, Moke Gardens.
The city will have 2,000 housing units as the highlight of Kisii City among other provisions such as a business park, school, hospitals, religious facilities and other social amenities. The total cost of the Kisii City project is estimated in the region of Kshs 12 Billion.
The city will be built using precast concrete panels. These panels are preferred since they do not require plastering, formworks, wooden works or scaffolding. The technology is appropriate since it can be used to build high-rise apartments, standalone houses, and large-scale housing.
Precast concrete is also manufactured in a controlled environment and therefore it is easier to control the mix, placement, and curing, so the quality can be controlled and monitored much more easily than on-site cast concrete.
The project is expected to be a major boost to the Kisii County economy as it will create more than 8000 white collar jobs once complete.
That’s a good pace setting stride by the county government. However, i don’t feel like the white collar jobs class deserve houses which look like warehouses. the design team ought to have worked harder to convince especially with that choice of material
I read elsewhere that the project has no site. At least not at the moment. Then how the hell did they design, cost, award tender and sign deal? Where will they build?