Category: A4architect

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TYPICAL FLOOR PLAN

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
info@a4architect.com

South House Airbnb offers great convenience due to its location off the Southern Bypass in Nairobi.

Travel time to the airport, CBD and other pars of the country from South House airbnb becomes easy to plan.

South House Airbnb offers great views towards Alliance Girls hostels, Thogoto forest and Ondiri swamp.

The airbnb hotel apartment has Studio, 1 bedroomed and 2 bedroomed apartments for guests to chose from. Large groups such as families, friends and workmates are served well by the 1 and 2 bedroomed apartment set ups. The one bedroomed apartment has a sofa bed in the living room to increase the number of guests it can accommodate.

Check out the rates below. Call 0721410684 to book.

 

South House Airbnb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plot no. 1849

South House Airbnb.

 

Bedsitter,

0ne Bedrooomed

Two Bedroomed.

Open 24 hours a day, daily.

 

Call 0721410684 for rates.

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3116.2809408706657!2d36.657744173651835!3d-1.2690311987188916!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x182f1f7cedb83d27%3A0x27e92a7ddedb323f!2sSouth%20House%20Airbnb!5e1!3m2!1sen!2ske!4v1686924487316!5m2!1sen!2ske&w=600&h=450]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

outhern Sun Hotel is located along the Southern Bypass in between Kikuyu town and Thogoto town.
Its located opposite Alliance Girls high school.
The Southern bypass is scheduled to be completed by end of 2014.

The hotel is also scheduled to be completed in phases, with the 1st phase ready by end of 2014.
The hotel comprises of 33 rooms, all sold to the public who will own a share of the Limited Liability company that owns the hotel.

Land acquisition.

The search fro suitable land to buy started in the 1st week of January 2014. Initial leads were gotten through google search and Olx. The first leads took us to lands along the Thogoto to Gikambura road where 1/4 acre plots touching tarmac were selling for between 4.5 to 8m depending on how close they were to Thogoto town.
We visited 3 to 4 plots for sale on day 1, all along the Thogoto Gikambura road, which was abit off the main bypass.
By then, most land selling agents were al saying that there was no land on sale along the bypass.

Most land along the bypass in Thogoto belongs to large institutions, namely Ngong Forest, PCEA Thogoto church, PCEA Thogoto teachers college and Alliance Boys and Girls schools.

The few individual land owners were not selling.
On the second day, we got a lead from one of the agents who connected us to land for sale along the bypass, a 1/8th acre selling at kes 4.5.

We settled for this and met with the family that owned the land. We agreed on the price. At the second meeting, the family decided not to sell or got a better buyer. We embarked on more search. We saw a few plots within Thogoto town which are owned by the Kikuyu county council and a few more behind the town.
All of these were off the main bypass and in shabby neighbourhoods which would not work well with a hotel project.

We met an agent who had several plots along the bypass, mostly 1/4 acre plots selling for between kes 8 to 10m which was above our budget. Luckily, he showed us the current site .
At our first visit, the site seemed too small such that it was undevelopable.
I decided to make lemonade out of the lemons we had been dished. Since the plot was half of a normal eighth acre, i decided to see it as an advantage in that this reduced buying price meant that with 2 or 3 member contributions, we would be past the stage of land acquisition.

I thought over it and decided the plot could fit 10 to 11 rooms per floor from the 1st floor since we needed to leave the ground floor free for the restaurant, kitchen , and offices.

The plot has 2 access roads, from the southern bypass side and from the back side.
This means there is more room to open up windows hence maximum space utilisation.

We settled on this and set up a meeting to begin payments and agreement signing with the sellers lawyer.
The agreement was signed and 50% of sale price paid in as deposit.

The ownership document was a confirmation of grant from inheritance by the grand daughter of the original owner, a Mr Kiarie, deceaced.

The process kicked off the next day where we met a surveyor who would hive off the part of the plot already compulsorily acquired by Ministry of roads for the bypass so as to remove the caveat by Government of Kenya on the title deed.
This process is ongoing currently. The next process will be to transfer the land from the current owner to A for Architect limited, a company owned by any member who would like to be a part of the hotel project and has paid the cost of 1 share.

We also met Engineer Jonathan, who works for the Chinese construction company construction the bypass, who confirmed to us that the design for the bypass was amended this month to include service roads to access to our plot.

We plan that cars enter from the main highway service road, through the ground floor level and park at the rear service roads which are very private.

Once the land is acquired and the title goes into the name of A for Architect LTD, we will then begin construction after the Kikuyu county Government grants us the approval to construct the multi storey hotel.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
info@a4architect.com

How is the technology’ penetration ,fast or slow?

Roofing using shingles is fast penetrating the Kenyan construction and real estate industry due to its high aesthetic appeal and moderate cost.
The shingles cost around kes 1450 per m2 including overlap and the underlay, made from recycled plastic, costs around kes 500 per m2. In total , this costs close to kes 2,000 per m2 without including the cost of timber roof trusses.

Most Gazebos and outdoor eating areas for restaurants are using these shingles in Nairobi. Examples of this use are the Kenchic/Petrol station along Karen langata road opposite Nairobi Academy/Mamba village, Upper Hill springs restaurant, KPLC Retirment benefits housing estate along Bogani road in Karen, designed by Symbion International.

Shingles are made of asphalt, a byproduct of oil refinery. Once the Turkana oil starts being mined, shingles will become very low cost to produce from Kenya.

How much percentage does it save on construction costs compared to other roofing materials?

Since its lightweight, there will be savings on the timber roof support trusses since they can be spaced further apart hence using fewer roof truss members.

Due to the unique aesthetic appeal, these will enable developers charge higher rents or sale prices since buyers will feel the worth of the real estate they are purchasing.

Due to the fact that the material can be curved, it enables creation of interesting curved roof shapes that will earn value to the developers.

Any other company in Kenya dealing with the same roofing materials?

Currently, the most notable is Rexe roofing products company.

Do you see adaptation of the technology in coming years?

Once many other players come into the market, with many importers and the usual enterprising Kenyans who will opt to manufacture the products here, definitely the price will go down and he product will now be available even for low cost homes.
After mining Turkana oil starts, it will be very cost effective to produce asphalt shingles in Kenya.

Advantages of using roofing shingles over other materials?

The shingles give very unique and aesthetically appealing designs. This makes it profitable for developers since buyers easily see the worth of what they are purchasing.

Shingles also are very durable.

Shingles can be cost effective if produced locally.

Shingles are lightweight, hence reducing cost of timber trusses.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
info@a4architect.com

IN Kenya, most real estate investment for apartments is usually done by the high class and upper middle class. This is the class that can afford to construct apartments which cost on average between kes 20 million to kes 50 million for a block of flats sitting on a 1/8th acre of land within 30km radius of Nairobi CBD. These are areas sucha sKitengela, Kiambu, Syokimau, Kikuyu, Ngong, Kiserian ,Ruai, Thika and Nairobi eastlands.

Due to the high cost of middle class  apartment construction, most Nairobians tend to rent from the developers, mostly upper middle class and high class income groups.

 

Smart solution.

A4architect.com has come up with smart solutions to enable the middle class to live comfortably within these Nairobi Surburbs.

Nairobi CBD is the main source of employment for the middle class. This means they cant be able to live in far off places such as Kajiado, Isinya, Limuru, Naivasha,Muranga, Kangundo where land is around kes 500,000 per 1/8th acre, hence affordable.

This leaves them at the mercy of the high class Kenyans able to buy land and construct apartments in nearer areas such as Kiambu, Kitengela, Umoja/Eastalands and Ruai.

The solution lies in the middle class buying into a4architect.com’s real estate investment option for the hotel project along Southern Bypass in Thogoto.

The hotel has 30 rooms whereby the initial sale price has been set at kes 1.2m per room whcih will continue increasing as demand rises.

Assuming an investor buys in at the initial stages where the sale price is kes 1.2m, they will gain an average of kes 18,000 per month, assuming the hotel room they have bought brings in kes 1,000 per night for 18 nights, with the other 12 nights without occupancy, i.e. 60% occupancy rate per month, which has the potential to go higher since the hotel is situated along the Southern bypass.

Kes 18,000 monthly rent.

The average rent for a  2 bedroomed apartment in Nairobi’s middle class Suburb is kes 12,000 to kes 18,000.

This means the investor can then get themselves a cosy apartment near their place of work and pay the rent comfortably from the proceeds of their investment in the hotel project.

Low cost land far off from Nairobi.

The middle class who rent the apartments around Nairobi have the option of buying cheap land in far away places such as Kajiado, Isinya and Kangundo for say kes 600,000 then build a mabati temporary house for kes 600,000 to  make it to kes 1.2m.

They will most often be late to work since these places are too far from their work place.

They will mst often be susscptible to burglar attacks since these remote areas sre quite insecure.

The mabati shacks they build will be too hot during the day and too clod ant night, thereby reducing the quality of living.

Instead of subjecting themselves to the above suffering, the wisest decision is to invest the kes 1.2m in the hotel project described in detail here

http://www.a4architect.com/discuss/

After this investment, the kes 18,000 per month gained from this then goes to offset the montly rent in the apartments they live in.

Investors are allocated one room per share based on the floor plan below

Capital gains.

This is a win win situation in that the investment will increase in value by a high percentage each year. They can resell their share in the hotel investment and gain from the high capital increment. For example, if they retire, they can sell the hotel room share and use the proceeds to buy land and build in far away places from Nairobi where land will be cheaper.

 

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.

info@a4architect.com

The highest returns on investment in the Kenyan real estate industry can be seen on those who initially acquired land in Nairobi CBD.

In the early 1900s, Nairobi CBD was a simple village with small time shops as seen below.

During this time, some people were wise enough to acquire the land and invest, knowing that the returns would be high.

At the same time, others did not see the opportunity.

 

New stanley hotel in the early 1900s.

New stanley hotel in the 1920s

Nairobi view from the Stanley Hotel in 1949.

New stanley hotel currently.

 

Nairobi CBD 100 years ago.

 

Nairobi CBD currently

Currently, Nairobi CBD price per acre is in the range of kes 300 to kes 500 million.

 

This land alone would make any  real estate investor rank highly amongst the wealthiest in Africa.

 

Pooling resources.

 

Its not usually possible that at any given time, all investors would be able to afford acquisition of real estate.

www.a4architect.com has made it easier for investors to come together and reap the benefits of the high return on investment.

This is done by pooling of resources to acquire property where the property is divided into shares which investors buy and become part owners.

This will enable investors to increase in wealth commensurate with the shares they own in the property.

For example, if 100 people came together in the 1900s to own an acre of land in the CBD, they would now be worth kes 500 million/100=kes 5m with the current values.

If the property was to be developed, the rental income plus capital gain would be in the region of tens of millions.

 

During the early 1900s, the land could not have been much more than kes 100, meaning that all they needed was kes 1 to  invest, which was a very achievable mark.

New Rwathia.

 

Gerald Gikonyo, currently an octogenarian, came close to this with his Rwathia hotels in Nairobi Downtown.he companies boast such investments in Nairobi as Magomano Hotel, New Kinangop Hotel, Timboroa Hotel, Alfa Hotel, Rwathia Distributors — a beer distribution company — and numerous other businesses, especially in real estate.

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/from-hawker-to-business-mogul/-/1190/2143208/-/1334882/-/index.html

He started the businesses in 1947 with a capital base of only kes 700.

Those who saw his dream and partnered with him are currently laughing ll the way to the bank.

 

Time aspect.

Real estate is very dependant on the time aspect.

The earlier one starts to invest in real estate, the more the returns. The ones who came and acquired property in Nairobi CBD in the early 1900s, mainly European settlers and Indian coolies, are today the greatest beneficiaries.

The ones who came in in the 1940s such as Mr Gikonyo have also reaped big, having returned their initial kes 700 investment many thousands of times .

Thogoto Southern Bypass hotel.

 

a4architect is inviting investors to buy rooms in the 30 room Thogoto southern bypass hotel. See details here

 

http://www.a4architect.com/discuss/

Investors will own a room and will stand to gain from the monthly income generated and also from the high property appreciation rates in Kenya.

This is in the hope that after many years, the investors will be able to reap the financial benefits of the wealth they have created over the years.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.

 

 

See here for room purchase details

http://www.a4architect.com/discus/topic/joint-investment/page/5/