Mashhold to complete housing project in Q4

PROPERTY development firm Mashonaland Holdings expects to complete its US$3,6 million MashView gardens residential project in the fourth quarter of this year as it continues to push ahead its diversification thrust.

Located in Bluffhill, 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 initiative.

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 Borrowdale Road.

The group said the projects would be funded from proceeds of the imminent disposal of the Charter House building (at US$7,4 million) to a buyer who has been identified by the company.

Mashonaland Holdings says there 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 to the needs of this market segment the company embarked on MashView gardens.
Managing director Gibson Mapfidza told an analyst briefing that one of blue-chip companies had shown 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 Bluffhill, worth US$3,6 million, and at the height of Covid-19 in June we officially launched the units and we were able to sale 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 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 issue last year.-The Herald