Simon Chapereka
FIDELITY Life will develop 11 500 high density residential stands at Langford Estate farm in Waterfalls with an estimated market value of US$350 million, inclusive of housing and other developments.
In an interview, Managing Director Simon Chapereka said the company, through a land for debt swap deal with CFI Holdings acquired 81 percent of the farm, which translates to 834 hectares.
“The land is already zoned under urban planning and we are going to link it with South View Park so that it comes at a lower development cost,” he said.
Chapereka said the company is looking at various options which include joint ventures to finance the project. Under the South View Park project, the company raised additional funding through a US$5 million bond facility which eventually raised US$12 million after being oversubscribed.
Chapereka said the Langford and South View projects are adjacent hence sewer and water systems will be plugged in from South View Park.
Chapereka said the Langford project will kick off once the South view project targeted for completion by year is achieved.
He said to date 4 600 stands out of 5 200 have been sold and the remaining 600 are expected to be sold out by year end.
Upon completion of the residential stands, the group will focus on commercial properties such as schools, shopping malls among others.
Fidelity acquired Langford Farm owned by CFI Holdings, under the land for debt swap deal. Fidelity then assumed CFI’s US$16 million debt.
Apart from the South View Project, Fidelity first embarked on housing development projects in 2011 and developed 317 stands in phase one of Manresa Fidelity Park in Arcturus.
Companies are venturing into housing developments due to opportunities available in the wake of a housing backlog of 1,5 million. FinX