WORK on a new sh70b luxury housing project has started in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb.
“The project will have 89 villas when completed,” said Herbert Sabiiti, the Bageine and Company business development manager.
Two of the villas are near completion.
The investment is being undertaken by Kenyan firms, Pinnacle Project and Wadia Construction on the 18-acre piece of land belong to the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC).
Bageine and Company, a property management firm, is marketing the apartments.
He added the four-bedroom houses, including servant quarters, would cost between $500,000 (about sh1b) and $600,000 (sh1.2b), depending on the size.
“The response has been overwhelming.
“We have already sold several of the houses. Those interested pay 30% of the total cost to book houses,” said Sabiiti.
The first phase of the project will have 29 houses and take nine months to complete, while the second phase will have 25 houses and last 10 months. Other 35 houses will be built in the third phase.
Sabiiti said the investment is funded by Pinnacle and Shelter Afrique.
The UBC land has been laying idle for years, with only one acre of it hosting TV and radio masts.
“Some of the land had been taken over by squatters. This project will earn the broadcaster billions of shillings from the sale of the apartments,” Sabiiti said.
When The New Vision visited the site last week, it was a bee-hive of activity, with bulldozers leveling the ground.
The estate will be first gated community in the country. It will have with two access gates, surveillance cameras, Internet facilities, local and international TV channels provided by particular companies for all the inhabitants.
It will also have a club house, a tennis court and a shopping mall.
mortgage finance will be provided by the Kenya Commercial Bank, Stanbic and Housing Finance Bank.