Vipingo Development Ltd to put up commercial property in Kwale

Vipingo Development Limited, a subsidiary of Centum Plc., intends to embark on developing a commercial centre comprising of a filling station, hotel, offices, retail outlets and a car park.

The project involves turning a large-scale sisal farm into the said property by constructing a centre that will be an everyday shopping, fuelling, meeting and entertainment location for residents and visitors of Vipingo environs and North Coast. Already Anvil Equatorial Development Limited have been listed as tenants in the proposed development.

The proposed project site is located in Vipingo area along Mombasa Malindi Highway in Kilifi County, on a plot of land measuring 10.13 acres and approximately 1.11Km East of Vipingo Ridge’s main entrance.

The proposed development will comprise of a supermarket, restaurant, banking services, medical facilities, gym, bar, play area, hotel, office building, car park, filling station and a car wash. It will have a total retail gross leasable area (GLA) of 6567 sqm and office space GLA of 2130 sqm.

The lower level of retail includes a supermarket anchor, a sub-anchor, and a restaurant piazza with outdoor play area. Total retail GLA for the lower level plan is 4352 sqm. The upper level of retail will be created to include; a gym, some banking facilities, service and medical facilities, and an upper level bar and a total retail GLA of 2215 sqm. An office building is also part of the development, from the first to the third floor, taking up approximately 2130 sqm of GLA.

Development of the proposed commercial center is scheduled to take place in phases. Phase one will comprise of a retail centre, office space and a filling station all set on four acres of land.

Kwale county is envisioned in the Vision 2030 to be a resort city, promoting tourism and culture in the coastal region. To create the necessary infrastructure, there are currently efforts to expand Malindi airport, Kilifi and Kijipwa airstrips to cater for the expected increase of visitors and residents in the county.

The developer however, will be counting on Vipingo airstrip in Vipingo Ridge residential golf development located 1.5km away from the project site. The private Airstrip allows easy access to and from the development.

Kwale county has in recent years been the subject of many property investments including Centum’s Vipingo Industrial Park and Palm Exotjca.