Suburban
THE US$3,6 million MashView Gardens housing project in Bluff Hill is expected to be completed by the end of this year, developers of the project Mashonaland Holdings have said.
Michael Tome
The property development firm says it expects to complete the housing project in the fourth quarter of this year as it continues to push ahead its diversification thrust.
Located in Bluff Hill, the project was launched at the height of Covid-19 pandemic in June 2021, which hampered progress, but the opening up of the economy, following a drop in new infections, has injected pace into the housing project.
The MashView Gardens project is one of the key initiatives being undertaken by Mashonaland Holdings, along with the Milton Park medical facility and an office park project under construction along Liberation Legacy Way (formely Borrowdale Road).
The group said the projects will be funded from proceeds of the imminent disposal of the Charter House in building (at US$7,4 million) to a buyer who has been identified by the company. Charter House is located in the Harare central business district at the corner of Julius Nyerere Way and Samora Machel Avenue.
Mashonaland Holdings says here has been growing activity in the freehold residential land market and this has prompted the company to venture into middle-income and high-income residential development.
To cater for the needs of this market segment the company embarked on MashView Gardens.
Mashonaland Holdings managing director Mr Gibson Mapfidza told an analyst briefing that one of the local blue-chip companies had shown an interest in the 25 units which the company intends to complete in the last quarter of the year.
“We are working on MashView Gardens which is a 25 cluster housing development in Bluff Hill worth US$3,6 million and at the height of Covid-19 in June (2021) we officially launched the units and we were able to sell all the 25 units to one blue-chip company thankfully and we are going through the development of the project and we target to complete all the 25 houses by the fourth quarter of this year,” revealed Mr Mapfidza.
He said the residential market particularly in the country’s two biggest cities possessed a stock of old and overpriced houses which did not meet the demands of the current crop of customers hence the need to focus and come up with new products.
“Stock that is available in the market is really the same particularly in the northern side of Harare and most of the eastern side of Bulawayo where there has not been a lot of supply.
“So pricing has been very much high if you look at it and the sad development as well is that most of these properties or residentials were designed 30 years ago. When you look at the quality as well it is not in line with what the prospective buyers are looking at. This presents an opportunity going forward for us.”
Although Mr Mapfidza was happy with the opportunities in the real estate market, he cited challenges around the supply of building materials, particularly cement shortages, which was a big problem last year. –
MashView Gardens is sitting on 2.3 hectares of land. It will have 25 modern cluster houses with each unit sitting on stand sizes ranging between 600-900square metres with a generous floor area of 190m².
The concept design of the cluster houses offers two types of single storey houses in a gated and walled complex offering 24-hour security.
Each cluster house will have three bedrooms; type one house sits on 190m² and with two of the three bedrooms with en-suites and type two houses have one en-suite bedroom and sits on 173m² floor area.
All the 25 units will have an entrance through shaded portico into generous hallway looking through to the established gardens, spacious double volume living and dining area with vaulted ceilings and exposed trusses. The kitchen will be fully fitted with granite tops.
Two of the bedrooms including the main will have large en-suite bathrooms for type one, a guest bathroom will be accessible to the third bedroom and visitors. The generous main bedroom has dressing room and en-suite with twin basins, own patio onto garden.
All the bedrooms including the kitchen will have modern fitted cupboards finished to the buyer’s taste. The house will be tiled throughout and very tastefully finished if required.
The whole complex will be serviced by prolific boreholes, one already sunk and a guard house as well as pretty, established gardens with an asphalt driveway and covered carport suitable for parking two family vehicles. —The Herald/Suburban Reporter
