Nextgen Park: Where life meets elegance

Aquatic fun, residents’ own movie theatres and a sprawling commercial mall are some of the unique offerings at this new multi-billion housing development. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • Game-changing stuff: The developers of this multi-billion estate on Mombasa Road say it is no longer enough to put up classy apartments, throw in a swimming pool and cap it all with a gym; you must invest in comfort, style... and a bit of vanity

We are not just selling houses, but lifestyles as well,” Navin Shah says with the self-assuredness that can only come from a man who knows what he is talking about.

“We are building houses today that will still be relevant by the time we exit the stage. We do not want to become irrelevant in the next few years.”

The ‘lifestyle offer’ that Navin is talking about is a multi-billion property development he is putting up on Mombasa Road, and which he has aptly named Nextgen Park “to highlight the fact that we are focusing on the next generation”.

The development sits on the four and half acres of land that were formerly occupied by St James Hospital and borders Ole Sereni Hotel, Eka Hotel and the Nairobi National Park, about five minutes’ drive east of Nairobi.

That five-star environment, as Navin calls it, will be extended into every crease and crevice of Nextgen in order to capitalise on the growing appetite for good living in the country.

His development is designed to attract “the discerning client” who wants a good life, easy access to the city and all the amenities that a property development should offer in this age.

It will feature, among others, three towers of residential apartments, two towers of serviced apartments, a 720,000-square-feet shopping mall, a water park and a doctor’s plaza.

About 60 per cent of the residential apartments will have uninterrupted views of the Nairobi National Park.

“Basically, that means the lucky family living here will have everything at their doorsteps,” says Navin. “The property market in Kenya has been growing at an amazing rate, and every developer wants to offer something unique to their clients. That is why, for instance, swimming pools have become the standard rather than the exception, but we want to take the game to a whole new level. That is why we are not evening shouting about the fact that Nextgen Park will have a swimming pool.”

Artificial waves

But he needs to talk about his swimming pool… because it is not your usual, run-of-the-mill affair, but an amazing creation facing the national park that will, among other things, boast artificial waves generated by a magical assembly of electric generators and an army of fans.

The pool will be part of an expansive water park that will also feature a kiddie area and a spa.

The additional features for the residential apartments include a five-star hotel-like reception lobby managed by a 24-hour concierge service, high-speed lifts, borehole water supply, a gym, two acres of landscaped recreational land, a stand-by generator for every apartment, intercom service, and a solar heater facility for domestic water use.

Also in the cards is the mother of all add-ons: a 40-seater movie theatre for every apartment.

“We are a social country,” Navin explains this curious, if not exciting, offer, “but we are doing it the wrong way. If you want to watch a soccer game, you are most likely going to get in your car and drive to the nearest sports bar. But you don’t have to do that anymore if you live at Nextgen Park. Imagine the kind of camaraderie you would get with your neighbours if you regularly met at this state-of-the-art theatre to catch a game, watch a movie… or even your daughter’s second birthday video? You could even hold tenant meetings here!”

That movie experience aside, every apartment in the development comes with a fitted kitchen, which will include, among others, a fridge, a microwave oven, an electric cooker and a washing machine.

“The customised kitchen will be every household’s dream, and the whole set-up and customised furnishings will cost us about Sh1 million per family.”

Also, every kitchen will have piped gas from a central location, and all that residents will be required to do is use a pre-paid system to access their quota of the gas.

The commercial segment of the facility “has been modelled around the world’s best shopping hubs”, says Navin, and will have 180 retail shops, 10 pharmacies, a 100,000-square-foot supermarket which will be the biggest in Kenya (and probably the region), a 50,000-square-foot food court and one floor of office space.

But while the commercial centre is modeled around the world’s best, it deviates from the norm in terms of leasing and renting.

Every inch of the facility will be sold out to individual businessmen and corporate investors instead of being let out. The same goes for the residential and services apartments.

“It is very attractive to let out these things, but most of the times they work to the disadvantage of the tenant,” says Navin. “Our plan is to sell everything that we build because that promises a better return on investment in the long run for the buyer. If, for instance, one bought a shop, or one of the pharmacies, or a floor of the serviced apartments, the return on investment, based on our calculations, is about 15 per cent. If you factor in the rate of appreciation in value of the property, it won’t take long before one recoups one’s investment and starts making profit for the long haul.”

This new development takes into account the ever-changing lifestyle preferences of the modern Kenyan and packages them within a few acres.

It follows in the footsteps of a couple of others outside Nairobi that have been built around the reality of an upwardly mobile client who wants to live, work and relax in a pristine environment and still enjoy a couple of (unlikely) add-ons in the package.

Its biggest and most promising selling points seem to be the timeless value in a contemporary, Mombasa Road setting that it offers the lucky buyer, as well as what Navin calls “the luxury lifestyle of a classic ocean liner” supported by cutting-edge technology.