What are your Real Estate needs?

July 2016

I know what I want. Do I really need a Feasibility Study?

Habida and Joash made a call to me a fortnight ago; the call came from Habida as she was the one I had happened to interact with him in a previous engagement. Joash is the husband to Habida and he happens to work out of the country most of the time. My meeting with Habida was a sheer coincidence where I was involved in the development of luxury apartments for her friend Keziah in the up market area of...

Reduce construction cost by 30 %

With skyrocketing prices of building materials, especially sand, cement, iron sheets, bricks and stones, developers are trying to look for the alternative materials to reduce the cost of construction. One such approach is the use of interlocking bricks. Interlocking blocks are slowly gaining acceptance, with sector players saying they bring the cost down by up to 30 per cent, compared to conventional...

How to “terror proof ” a shopping mall

21st September 2013 will be remembered by many as a day when one of the finest shopping malls in Kenya was hit by terrorists killing many and injuring hundreds. As a real estate consultant, i ask myself this question, “ How can a property manager “terror proof” a shopping mall?” Lesson from Israel Donald Story in an article titled, “How should malls address terrorism”  draws some examples...

Lessons that property managers can learn from the oil industry

My training is in real estate and that’s where my passion lies. However, i have had a chance to study about oil and work in an oil exploration field. I have seen how different and meticulous this oil industry is. It’s in a level of its own. Standards. The oil industry doesn’t operate on minimum standards, it operates on best / highest standards. This industry doesn’t just prefer safety, it says,...

Fire prevention through Good Housekeeping

In the past few years, Nairobi has experienced many fires especially in commercial properties. The worst was the “Nakumatt Downtown” fire where many people died and many more were injured. There have also been several other fires that have just destroyed properties, sparing precious lives. The latest one is the JKIA fire that was blamed on an electrical fault. However, all is not lost. To limit the...

Electrical Hazards

Electrical system failures and the misuse of electrical equipment are leading causes of workplace fires. Fires can result from loose ground connections, wiring with frayed insulation, or overloaded fuses, circuits, motors, or outlets. To prevent electrical fires, the occupants should: Make sure that worn wires are replaced. Use only appropriately rated fuses. Never use extension cords as...

Emergency Exit

Basic Requirements An exit route must be permanent. Each exit route must be a permanent part of the workplace. An exit must be separated by fire resistant materials. Construction materials used to separate an exit from other parts of the workplace must have a one-hour fire resistance-rating if the exit connects three or fewer stories and a two-hour fire resistance-rating if the exit connects four or...

Cost and time implications of building using EPS technology in Kenya

Urban population in Kenya is rapidly growing posing a major challenge in housing that has seen majority of urban inhabitants reside in informal settlement commonly known as slums. With a deficit of 250,000 thousand housing units per annum, a new building technology in Kenya known as Expanded Polystyrene Panel EPS technology is expected to turn around construction industry. The technology that uses...

Is Dr Alfred Mutua about to build Kenya’s first “Ghost city”?

First published in November 2013 There was an investor forum in Nyeri county a while back and some of the dignitaries in the meeting asked the Nyeri county Governor to emulate Dr Alfred Mutua, the Governor of Machakos county. Every one seems to be singing praises of Dr Mutua, myself included, but maybe a critical look into his ambitious plans for Machakos might open our eyes to the harsh reality that he...

How to “shop” for a property manager

When my wife and i got our first baby, we were very anxious about the thought of bringing in a 3rd party to take care of our bundle of joy. At first, we wanted to get a house help who would do everything else in the house apart from touching our baby. However, as fate would have it, after my paternity break and my wife’s maternity break, it was time to leave our small prince in the arms of our house...

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