Africa-Press – Kenya. The family of the late Billionaire Nelson Muguku has addressed reports that it is seeking to sell the expansive Waterfront Mall in Karen, Nairobi, for Ksh20 Billion.
In a statement on Tuesday, April 27, the mall’s Managing Director David Muguku stated that they were not looking to sell the property.
“We would like to dispel this information and let the public, our tenants, and clients know that the information is false and does not represent the position of the management. The information should therefore be disregarded.
“We would like to further inform the public that any information pertaining to the sale of the property, if any, or any other matter would be issued by the management through official channels,” he stated.
The mall which was opened in 2018, sits on 13.8 acres of prime property with the land having a man-made lake occupying 3.5 acres.
During its opening, the mall announced that a shopping complex with South Africa’s retail giant, Game, would be the anchor tenant.
However, after barely a year of operation, the retailer announced the closure of the store and its exit from the Kenyan market.
“The management of The Waterfront Karen mall is in receipt of a vacate notice by one of our anchor supermarkets, Shoprite Kenya. We would like to assure our customers that their shopping requirements will continue to be met through our other grocers,” read a letter from the Mall after the announced closure.
Naivas took up the tenancy of the mall after the exit of Shoprite.
According to a recent land prices report, Karen estate was among the high-end areas where property prices have been on the decrease due to changes in zoning laws by City Hallway paving way for the establishment of apartment blocks.
The HassConsult Land Price Index Q4, 2020, stated that the Karen suburb offered the lowest price for an acre of land among high-end estates, with the average price per acre tagged at Ksh 62.1 million.
Muguku, who died in 2010 aged 78, built a multi-billion-shilling business empire from humble beginnings as a poultry farmer based in Kikuyu on the outskirts of Nairobi.
At the time of his death, his estate was valued at approximately Ksh10 billion, mainly generated from Muguku Poultry Farm, a modern hatchery, and his stake at Equity Bank.
