WEST Group plans to spend US$50 million constructing 130 cluster homes in the leafy Borrowdale suburb, chief executive officer Ken Sharpe has said. The cluster homes would be built next to the proposed US$100 million shopping mall, Mall of Zimbabwe, that the group will be constructing. Sharpe said his company would be constructing single and double storey cluster homes. ?The investment would be between US$45 million and US$50 million and we have sourced the funds from foreign investors in the last six months. The foreign investor, West Properties, holds a 30% stake in the construction project,? he said. Sharpe said the servicing of the stands at the place had already begun and construction of the first four model houses would begin next month. ?We hope to complete the four show houses by year-end and we will invite people. We hope 50% of the houses would be sold within the first year,? he said. Sharpe said the housing project would take between two to four years to complete. He said the houses were targeted at middle-income aspiring professionals and old people who wanted smaller places. The property developer said the US$100 million Mall of Zimbabwe project was waiting for approvals from authorities. ?We have finalised our indigenisation plan and we are waiting for the approval. We are putting finances together and by the end of the year, we should begin the project,? he said. Sharpe said 75% of the leases of the mall have been signed by the tenants. The construction of the Mall of Zimbabwe was launched in 2011 by Vice-President Joice Mujuru. The project is a partnership between Augur Investment, McCormick Property Development, West Properties and McCormick Property Africa. The company acquired the land from government in exchange for the construction of Airport Road in 2008, estimated at US$68 million. McCormick Property Developers have more than 30 years experience in constructing urban shopping malls. It has constructed 48 malls in Africa and the Mall of Zimbabwe is going to be the 50th after the Mall of Mozambique. The Mall of Zimbabwe will have 130 shops.
Source: The Standard
