By Victor Adar
Fadhili Care at Green Park gated community along Mombasa road, which is a purpose built assisted living complex, is the latest package by Superior Homes Kenya coming couple of months after Machakos High Court stopped the Water Resources Authority from executing a demolition notice of houses that the company had constructed within Greenpark Estate. It was in June this year that the houses, said to have been built on riparian land by the developer were to be demolished.
Nicholus Njogu, Superior Homes sales and marketing manager says that flooding was a major challenge thanks to construction on Mombasa road that led to debris that blocked the water way that led flooding water to wash out their walls.
“The boundaries are outside the 30 metres minimum distance allowances in respect of riparian land. We are actually 50 metres away from the riparian land and there’s no encroachment at all. We are back on supporting our homeowners who are back and continuing with their lives,” says Njogu.
With the issue of demolition and floods now solved, the real estate developer is getting more creative as it aims to woo the retired and elderly people who are above the age of 60 years, and give rivals a run for their money. Mr Njogu says that Fadhili Care project, which is their latest package, has been received well by customers, and will eventually boost the company’s income. Arguing that there have been all manner of developments but none is mainly focusing on the elderly, he believes that Fadhili homes could be the only way to help those approaching their sunset age like retirees.
“Fadhili is assisting freedom of mobility as it is designed to ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of the residents,” Njogu says. “We’ve got quality response from the market. So it’s really the culture of Kenyans changing. The market is there as the package is highly scalable and we hope that the project will be replicated elsewhere in the country.”
There are hundreds of real estate developers in Kenya. But as people thought that the market is already too flooded and that the real estate bubble is about to burst, new tactics emerge. In fact, there have been all manner of developments but none or very few are focusing on those nearing their sunset years.
Dåigital media marketer, Paul Adede, says that the company saw a need to come up with a project that’s mainly targeting the elderly. Adede cites research as one of the tools that the company took into consideration before tilting their focus in an area that’s badly in need of support. But what advised the move to launch the Fadhili care package?
“It’s like old people are forgotten,” Adede says. “We wanted to accommodate people with mobility issues; those from 60 years and above, disabled or a bit old but with sound mind. That’s the motivation behind Fadhili villas.”
At a time when depression and mental health is cited as some of the causes of unhappiness, Mr Adede would like to see some sort of “culture change”, and wonders why the elderly and even the retired should leave the city to go and stay in the village away from their children and grand children who may still be in major towns. Assisted living, which is a bit new in Kenya though, is a pointer to how quickly tactics of getting a bigger piece of the pie in a very competitive market have gone to a higher level.
Fadhili probably will be received well as it has worked in countries like South Africa and some parts of Europe. Good facilities and services are already in place. The estate management team to deal with the day-to-day running of the development for instance is among the services that will benefit customers.
“Research came into this and was mostly influenced by culture. When people retire the best for them is to go home when their grand children remain in towns… they are neglected. So this place will help look after them. You don’t have to make frequent visits to the village. We are yet to launch into the market so we’ve not really decided on pricing of the 42 individual houses so far. But this is something that has worked in some countries. In Kenya however, it is new but we are trying to fine-tune it so that it can fit our country,” Adede said in an interview.
“With a fully qualified nurse always on duty and emergency panic buttons in every home, help is always on hand no matter the time of day or night. We also have a special arrangement with Kenya Red Cross and AAR. We have choppers that can come and pick one in case of an emergency,” he says.
