Construction work of what is going to be Africa's tallest skyscraper is ongoing in Nairobi's Upperhill area. The 70-floor futuristic building wouldn't look out of place in the dystopian world of Blade Runner. Estimated to stand at a whopping 300 metres of height upon completion, it will comfortably tower over the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, which at 223 metres is currently the tallest building in the continent.
With the project's budget being $200 million, you can be assured that the development will be nothing short of amazing, with a two-glass tower design, one being 70 storeys and the other being 45 storeys which will be a mix of offices and retail shops as well as residential one, two and three bedroom apartments and three-bedroom penthouses. What's even more intriguing is that it will have its very own helipad where guests can directly land and avoid the ever-so hectic Nairobi traffic. Additionally, it will be the home to a 5-star Hilton hotel, a shopping mall, a luxury spa, gym and open-air infinity pool.
Backed by the White Lotus Group, a real estate development firm from Dubai and Hass Petroleum, the development seems to be promising and is attracting a good number of investors: - in as much as the prices of the residential areas are yet to be confirmed, people have already kick-started the purchase of the apartments to live in and to let from the 150 units the developer received mandate to offer for sale. In addition, there will be four high speed lifts installed for residents.
The construction, as I had mentioned is very impressive but is still a shadow compared to buildings such as Burj Khalifa which was developed by Emaar properties and cost a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion dollars in Dubai developed in 2004 which has a whopping 124 floors and is the home to the Armani hotel, restaurants and corporate offices.
There's a lot of iconic buildings in Kenya such as the FCB Mihrab which will be predominantly occupied by First Community Bank which is basically a replica of Dubai's seven star hotel, Burj Al Arab which looks like a ship's sail as well as the Mirage twin towers, developed by Riayn Developers Group (RDL) located along Chiromo shape with the unique sail shape, Sifa towers in Kilimani  based on the shape of hyperbolic parabolic curve which can transform a simple cuboid to a dynamic looking structure and the list goes on