The Commercial Business District for Masvingo is set for a massive expansion with a new area set to be opened at an area near Charumbira Street along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway, Business Times has learnt.
In a statement, Masvingo City Council said, the development was promoted by the need to broaden land delivery options to accommodate emerging land requirements consistent with the contemporary investment drive of the City.
“The proposed MCCBEP is located on a piece of land defined by Charumbira Road and Masvingo-Beitbridge National Road to the east and south respectively. This makes the site highly accessible to residents of Masvingo as well as passing traffic,”read the statement.
“The existing CBD and the extension are linked by Kernen Recreational Park (under development). The said Park and green belt of Mucheke River will help break the monotony of built form as well as be the green lungs of the CBD,”added the statement.
Business Times has established that over 26 hectares of land has been set aside and will accommodate, 63 commercial stands, two shopping malls, a hotel, a cluster flats stands and two parking bays under Section 205 of the Urban Council Act Chapter 29:15.
The statement adds that the cluster flats will provide accommodation to the residents, clearing the city’s residential backlog.
“Cluster / flats stand is meant to accommodate the development of townhouses and gated residential communities to provide residential space for various groups of the city To cite the current predicament wherein most corporates have to sustain hotel bills upon transfer of new members to Masvingo. If there had been cluster (gated communities) housing provisions, corporates would own or rent out these clusters at charges consistent with the facilities. Moreso, diasporians from Masvingo have had to build big houses which trouble them with security concerns because Council had not reserved land for cluster housing,”read the statement.
“Horizontal development is least preferable considering that land is finite, worse off this prime land. Overally this development should produce a functional modern upmarket centre of high architectural value which at the same time resonates well with the needs of corporates / property developers and users (customers). People shape/construct spaces, thereafter spaces shapes people’s life by facilitating and restricting human activity. Masvingo City Council hopes it will attract the correct investors who will develop functional and user friendly urban facilities,”read the statement.