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Herald Reporter
Beauty and splendour are written all over Pomona City. One can literally feel and live the dream as West Property CEO Mr Kenneth Sharpe explains the vision for Pomona City, a city within a city being built north of Harare.
The passion is infectious. The drive is undeniable.
The man with the vision of a city within a city was born some 50 years ago on 27 January in Harare.
His childhood was very nomadic as he moved places with his father who worked on mines. Probably that type of life hardened the young Ken who at an early age made two decisive decisions. To abandon school and start a business so he could fend for the love of his life – the now Mrs Joanna Sharpe.
“The purpose of love drove me into business to provide for her,” so goes the beginning of the big story.
So many would wonder how a high school dropout would start a business and become a global phenomenon becoming the first Zimbabwean to be recognized as Forbes Africa Innovative CEO for 2021.
Mr Sharpe is always keen to share nuggets from his life experiences which have since been crystallised into his biography, a book to be published next month.
“I started business at the age of 14. I would grow and sell vegetables in Shamva. My drive has always been ambition and perseverance,” he says.
Away from the vegetables and other retail businesses that Ken ventured into in his early formative years – he has now grown into a household name that wins international and local accolades in property development.
He admits to have fallen and risen in business but points out to perseverance and hardwork as the hallmarks of his present growth and says in Madiba’s (Nelson Mandela) words “don’t judge me by how many times I have fallen but rather by how many times I got up again”.
Ken has a number of development projects in Harare some already complete and some under construction and others to be unveiled. He is the author of the Millennium Park that comprises Pokugara Town Houses, Millennium Heights and the soon be launched Mall of Zimbabwe.
He has successfully built the Gunhill Rise Residential Estate and Homelands 263 Town Houses in Mt Pleasant.
One of his signature projects is the Pomona City dubbed the city within a city because of its integration aspects that bring together the live, work, play and shop under the smart cities concept – a first for Harare and Zimbabwe.
“The idea came from the aspect that we are running out of land in Harare. Densification is no longer a luxury but a necessity. As the city densifies we need to beautify it in terms of modern architecture and buildings coming out of the ground and reaching into the sky,” he says.
Having visited world cities, admired and experienced the beauty, splendour and integrated lifestyle communities, Mr Sharpe pulled some of the world’s best architects to design Pomona City — a city within a city.
“That is how Pomona City was birthed,” he says with a beaming smile that speaks volumes of the confidence of the dream city.
The Pomona City master plan that details all the features of the development will be unveiled later this year. Construction of the gated self-contained estate has begun and so has the excitement.
Mr Sharpe says Pomona will showcase architectural features that decorate other world capitals but largely borrowing from Dubai hence the “Bringing Dubai to Zimbabwe” rallying call for all West Property developments.
“My idea was to bring a mixed use concept and partly because of the pressure on land and also for convenience so that people do not have to travel long distances but can live, work, play and shop within same city.
“We have decided to integrate the whole lifestyle of the community. We have engaged architects and designers from across the globe. We are bringing the best practices from across the world to Zimbabwe,” he says.
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