FOUNDER and managing director of Homelux Real Estate and Property Development Company, Justin Machibaya says they are on track towards the construction of high-end properties whose demand had been growing in Zimbabwe.
Machibaya made the remarks on Friday speaking to the media on the sidelines of a tour of Kinsley Estate, an upmarket secure and gated community being constructed by Homelux in the posh suburb of Borrowdale Brooke in Harare.
Kinsley Estate gated community sits on 71.2 hectares in total with about 238 residential stands while 22 000 square meters, which is about 2.2 hectares is spared for a provision of a shopping center.
“Kinsley Estate will be the second biggest gated community after Borrowdale Brooke. I feel a bit of pain when I share that because Borrowdale Brooke has over 700 properties and this (Kinsley Estate) has about 247 units. We are proud that roads, water, infrastructure development are all done and compliant-ready for people to start building,” he said.
“From a national development positioning and policy, it is a great achievement, but we can’t call that the key point, if you get where I am coming from.
“In the sense that we risk as a nation to continue playing small, and yet we make ourselves feel like we are, 247 properties including commercial international standard, it is really nothing to talk about, but by the Zimbabwean standards, it is very significant.”
He continued: “We only have one gated community golf estate in Borrowdale Brooke, the whole nation, preferred by investors worldwide. This (Kinsley Estate) is now the second biggest gated community in the country. I thank the joint venture partner, Mrs Sakupwanya, for working to produce this.
“I would implore ourselves to say no guys, let us play it on the national level. Let’s have more gated communities, golf estates, let’s have more of such, bigger even, in numbers in every city in Zimbabwe, more in Harare, more in Bulawayo, more in Gweru, more in Masvingo and more in Mutare, just picking up a couple of key points,” he added.
Machibaya said Kinsley Estate will offer top security so that residents can walk around at any time.
“Imagine your wife has served you dinner, you have had your prayers with your family, you have sent your kids to sleep, and you decide to do a four, five kilometre walk around the road and you can do it by yourself because security is top notch,” he noted.
“The lifestyle is such that we are saying we are recognising people that have worked and invested and people that are conscious about investing in real estate. Because to some extent, whenever you invest in real estate, you are doing it currently, but please have a completely long-term perspective.
“Five years, 10 years, 20 and 50, so think of property, think retirement is one of our key statements as Homelux.”
He continued: “I am inviting prudent property investors that would like to invest with a long-term perspective, prioritising their security, prioritising their lifestyle and we have got a very good shopping center coming across within the estate, but accessible to the public that would offer convenience, that would offer pride of identification and with all the key facilities.
“Name the brands that you probably like, your key supermarket, your key retail shops, drive in eating foods and restaurants, and fuel stations. Self-contained because we are saying, in the case you don’t want to get out of here, spend your day here, sleep here, play here, and have your kids go to a nursery school across. So, investors need to have a long-term perspective.”
He said the estate is a green environment as they have put it in a solar system.
“Our culture is that trees are us, we are the same. I am human, a tree is a tree, but we live in the same eco-system. Preservation of trees through one of our marketing and advertising consultants, most of these trees have names and they are actually part of Kinsley Estate and they identified themselves as Kinsley Estate. If you come here and you cut down a tree, you probably have to get my consent to sign it off and say, yes, you can cut it down,” he said.
“Meter water is supplied by the estate, a million-litre water tank, boreholes pumping into that, So, we are not concerned about whether there is water from city council or not. This is one of the first developments that is self-sustaining in terms of water.”
Machibaya said as Homelux they are also playing a part in helping the government clear the housing backlog and job creation.
“There are 238 residential stands; that is a significant contribution to housing delivery. Associated with that, there were over 300 jobs created while the construction of this project was taking place,” he said.
“In terms of reducing the housing backlog, I would like to say that we have got three or four categories. We have got the high density, we have got the mid to income, and we have got the top end. This (Kinsley Estate) is basically a product for the middle to top end.
“Normally that market is not on the housing waiting list that if you would go to City of Harare you would find, but in terms of reducing the housing delivery, it definitely reduces it by 278 units. If you then add the number of members per family, if you work with an average of five, six, it is over a 1 000 effect in terms of reduction.
“This is not only the development that we are doing, we have got Harare South, we have got Bridge Point Estate, again, a topnotch, high density gated community as you enter Harare on the Masvingo road with over 900 high density stands between 200 and about 800 square meters, and we are launching that in the next two weeks.”
In terms of job creation, he said there would be about 60 to 70 permanent jobs created in security, garden maintenance and caretaking of the whole estate.
“As we develop the shopping centre, there are also going to be an additional 120 jobs that are going to be created. But most importantly, as we then build the 238 houses, there is going to be in excess of jobs created of all kinds of artisans, electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, you name it, in terms of effect,” he noted.
“So as Homelux, through this kind of development in partnership with Sakupwanya is one of the projects amongst many that we have done that have contributed and continue to contribute to government vision and we really believe that we are the sons of this country and we have to build our country.”
He challenged property developers to be professional, adding that the housing market has got a very good demand.
“My counsel to any other developer in the country and coming from external in terms of investment, Zimbabwe is prime, the housing market has got a very good demand, our market is steady, and our people generally, as Zimbabweans, we prioritise ownership of housing,” he noted.
“So, invest to the best of your ability, but primarily, make sure that there is infrastructure development, your roads, water, sewer, should be in. Let’s not allow people to move into developments that are not complete, it’s a complete disregard of humanity.
“Please make sure that title deeds can be provided. It's great security because it allows buyers to then forward borrow from financial institutions, which then allows a downstream effect in terms of the work that we do.”
He continued: “At Homelux we understand that property is one of the most significant investments that one will ever make.”
“We are, therefore, not just in the business of leasing buildings, buying, or selling houses, but we are in the business of building relationships, to help you make the best choice for your business or lifestyle needs.
"This is why we are the home of real estate.”