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Talent Bope-Lifestyle Writer
A new trend has hit Zimbabwe’s urban areas and tourist resorts. It is now trendy for visitors from the Diaspora to rent either a fully furnished house or apartment, and not go back to their original family homes, as it gives them more freedom.
These are called Grand Homes. Grand in that they are exclusive, stylish, furnished to expectation and designed for that purpose.
To date, there has been an upsurge of grand homes, giving credence, grandeur and flavour to tourism and the hospitality industry.
Conventional hotels and lodges now have to sweat for survival.
The grand homes are more exclusive and secretive.
More and more people now favour these homes that are fitted with all utensils and with the Covid-19 pandemic, renting an exclusive full house has become safer than a hotel where you meet and mix with many people.
The concept was introduced not so long ago and has attracted a lot people who are now abandoning their homes, at times in medium and low density suburbs in favour of a pacified life.
Grand homes marketing director Don Nyambira said the concept was widely accepted and attracted a lot of people to the extent that they the trend is growing.
This has seen the opening of Sibaya Properties with the thrust to meet the demand, adding the lifestyle evolved from the high density where all the necessary requirements are found within the locality.
“Residents need to stay close to their workplaces and we need the convenience of local shopping and entertainment options. All facilities should be closer to the people for example schools, health services and other facilities catering to the community without having travelled long distances.
“We recently opened another one called Sibaya which consists of 30 apartments fitted with swimming pools. All our properties are to rent; they are not for sell,” he said.
Sibaya Private Estate offers a very attractive solution — homes that are easy to maintain, excellent security within a community set up.
“Facilities like the swimming pool, gym and clubhouse and small gardens that don’t take too much time or cost too much to look after but still offer the outdoor living experience,” said Nyambira.
At Sibaya the first floor bedrooms have doors opening out to the expansive balconies while on the top floor, designed to be the children’s rooms, access is restricted to a single door from the shared pyjama lounge for safety reasons.
Maintenance of the communal spaces lies with the estate and all other issues like plumbing, electrical or other issues are taken care of by the body corporate. The place is very attractive, knowing that your home and your possessions are safe and secure.
The other one at Newlands provides all the convenience of inner city living and had still managed to maintain a pacified, flashy suburban atmosphere where families are safe and secure from city problems such as pickpocketing and harassment.
“Grand homes is a subsidiary of a local property development company called KS Trust and it is a sister company to G-Tel. We are, mainly involved in the construction and management of residential and commercial properties are around Zimbabwe.
“Founded in 2014 and based in Harare, Grand homes has evolved on the principles centred on delivering futuristic homes and commercial office space at very competitive market rates,” said Nyambira.
“Currently all our properties are mostly in Harare. We have a commercial property at Alford House used as G-Tel head office,” said Nyambira.
He explained how beautiful the properties are and why they have challenged other properties to draw and attract a lot of people.
Nyambira said the concept had become the centre of attraction because they are very tranquil and offer everything, as per customer demands.
“The concept is similar to modern, up-market, move-in-ready housing estates in South Africa and in Texas America. The environment is conducive especially for young couples as well as diplomats or corporate executives who are here in Zimbabwe for a while,” said Nyambira
He spoke of the other two excellent properties they have developed in Greencroft and Greendale.
“We have developed two fully furnished luxurious private estates in Harare, these being the Sibiti and Sitari Estates, which are located in Greencroft and Greendale, respectively.”
“Within our commercial realm, right within the CBD of the capital, Harare, we have Alford House, a multi-stored building currently being rented by one of the largest brands in Zimbabwe.
“We have got three private residential estates, the first one is Sibiti which is in Greencroft and was established in 2017. It comprises of sub sectional houses. The second one is in Greendale which is called Sitari private residential estate and it includes a gym and other superb facilities,” added Nyambira.
There are also shared paved access roads are illuminated by solar powered streetlamps.
“Interiors at the three estates are largely open plan on the ground floor with the kitchen, dining room and lounge all together. Kitchens have top of the range appliances for convenience, and a touch of luxury, and the open plan spaces lead out to private, secluded gardens.
“There’s a separate exterior door leading from the ground floor service area so domestic staff can have their own entryway without disturbing the residents. Scullery and laundry areas are separate from the main kitchen and entertaining areas.”
The bathrooms have high end, low maintenance finishes and the bedrooms have built-in wardrobes for storage.
All three projects have balconies for outdoor living
When it comes to rentals, the tenant pays a deposit fee and all fees are incorporated in the charge.
“Judging from the growing of business, we will soon open another one in Nyanga and also in Bulawayo,” said Nyambira.
“Our main targets are mainly the upmarket, we need to catch up first world couches. We need construct the first world into our country.
He said part of the audience are mainly the diplomats, non-governmental organisations and foreigners. Since we are targeting a certain audience we need to set a benchmark.
“We should give the people the luxurious life which they seek
“We offer a lot of amenities, CCTV, high security, electric security and we have solar street lights.
“It’s a life exceeding expectations. Most our properties are located in very quiet areas,” he said.
Online Reporter