Village Market’s Sh4 billion mall opens to the public

Greenhills Investment Ltd., the owners of Village Market and the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi have opened a Sh4 billion extension at their shopping complex on Limuru Road in a move aimed to consolidate their customer base in the wake of intensified competition from new malls.

The new extension, which opened on Friday, brings an extra 100 shops, 900 parking bays, a business hotel, a 14,000 square foot indoor playground for kids, a trampoline park, laser tag and a 10-pin bowling.

The facility will also host a 30,000 square foot gym – primed to be the largest in East Africa – a modern food market, and a 215-room Trademark Hotel; all of which will open by April 2018.

The new hotel has a conference centre that can accommodate 500 people. It will allow Greenhills to meet the rising demand for accommodation and conferencing spaces in the northern side of Nairobi.

The new development has already attracted a host of international businesses among them Cape Town-based giant gym brand Ignite Fitness, and South Africa clothing brands Foschini, Celio and Markhams which will operate alongside French designer label, Jennyfer, who are marking their entries into East Africa.

According to Village Market managing director Hamed Ehsani, the development that has been under construction since March 2014 has pushed the boundaries of retail and recreation in Nairobi by introducing some of the most cutting-edge concepts from around the world.

“With this new phase, our customers will appreciate a new language of architecture and experience new shopping concepts that did not previously exist in Nairobi,” Ehsani said.

READ: Nairobi’s oldest shopping mall undergoes Sh4 billion revamp

The new Village Market’s extension was designed Les Harbottle and Symbion Consulting Group and has been undertaken by local construction firm Seyani Brothers Company.

It is understood that Trademark Hotel will be a low-cost facility that will meet the needs of tourists who cannot afford the accommodation options at the Tribe.

“Majority of visitors and tourists cannot afford the services at Tribe Hotel and the construction of [Trademark Hotel] will benefit many people as its services will be relatively cheaper,” Greenhills said in a 2013 letter addressed to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

Village Market’s extension comes at a time when wealthy investors are spending billions of shillings to build ultra-modern malls across Nairobi, a development that has seen owners of old malls embarking on expensive renovations of their facilities.

Nairobi’s oldest shopping mall, Sarit Centre, is for example undertaking a Sh4 billion expansion that will involve the construction of a new mall adjacent to the existing one in Westlands – adding some 250,000 square feet of space to the development.

The expansions are aimed to help consolidate the old malls’ customer base in the wake of intensified competition from new entrants such as Garden City, Two Rivers and The Hub Karen.

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