Paul Arithi 
Centum Real Estate has handed over luxury apartments to buyers of phase 2 of the Loft residences located at the Two Rivers commercial and residential complex.
The handover on Saturday, September 28 marked yet another milestone for Centum Re, which has built to completion thousands of homes in Nairobi, Kilifi and Entebbe in Uganda.
Centum Re Managing Director Kenneth Mbae said investors snapped up phase 2 of the Loft Residences way before their completion.
“We are proud to have actualized our sales pitch and met the aspirations of our investors. The rapidly growing waiting list of prospective tenants at our Two Rivers model development avails a basket load of wealth creation opportunities to investors,” said Mr Mbae.
The high-end apartments were priced at between KES36 million and KES52 million
“The introductory price was KES36 million only 24 months ago. They are all sold out and purchasers are enjoying these prices from the secondary market,” said Mr Mbae.
The Centum Re boss said buyers of the houses are spread across six continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, North America & South America.
About 90 percent of the buyers are investors; mostly business people,Kenyans living in the diaspora and expatriates.
The units have attracted high rental income (more than 10 percent rental yield) and 25 percent capital appreciation.
“My family is happy, we were off-plan investors in this project and the developer has exceeded our investment objective and created real wealth for us.
They have linked us to a dollar rental market, provided access to long term fixed rate interest mortgage and created a world class neighborhood where certainly the residents will thrive,” said one of the Loft home owners.
A fifth of the buyers (21 percent) are mortgage borrowers, while 79 percent are milestone-based cash payers.
Four out of every five of the units have been listed for rent.
“Given our proximity to the diplomatic blue zone of Gigiri and certification of Two Rivers, a number of diplomatic missions and multi nationals are taking up long-term leases on the property,” said Mr Mbae.
The new units incorporated all the customer feedback from phase 1 of the project and include energy and water efficient technology that will save home owners a significant fraction of their utility bills.
The biggest selling point for corporates and diplomatic missions is the location, close to the diplomatic blue zone, and the multiple connectivity to a number of locations including the airport through the extended road network.
“We have enjoyed extensive support and referrals from our existing customers, the demonstrable track record of Centum RE to deliver high quality homes has been our biggest asset,” said Mr Mbae.
