NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 26 – Student hostel developer Acorn is planning to construct a Sh1.88 billion student hostel along Kijabe Street in Nairobi.
Through Larch Properties LLP, the Qwetu and Qejani residence models will be constructed on 0.7 acres of land.
Qwetu will comprise a lower and upper basement plus 16 floors with 555 housing units.
Likewise, Qejani will be built on an 18-story apartment comprising 630 student rooms.
“The total project cost will be One Billion, eight hundred and eighty two million, nine hundred and ninety thousand, four hundred and seventy four Kenya shillings (1,882,990,474) out of which a total of One million, eight hundred and eighty two, nine hundred and ninety thousand shillings (1,882,990) is payable to the authority (NEMA) being the sum of 0.1%,” an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) reads.
In Kenya, EIA is mandatory for all such projects to ensure that negative and significant impacts on the environment are taken into consideration during the design, construction, operation, and decommissioning to ensure adequate mitigation measures are considered.
Demand for student accommodations has been growing in the country amid shortfall challenges.
Shelter Afrique, a pan-African housing financier, for instance, estimates that universities in Kenya have a deficit of about 350,000 bed spaces and therefore need to build more.
To fill the gap, investors have been building the above units for students near universities across the country.
Acorn owns brands such as Qwetu and Qejani in Nairobi.
