A massive new luxury, mixed-use seaside resort development has been launched in Zanzibar, and it could be a tourism game-changer for the island.
The development was significantly delayed for a number or reasons, COVID among them, but it is now under way, and the developers say when it’s completed it will be the biggest of its kind in East Africa. It will also be the first to offer South Africans the opportunity to purchase property on the island.
Blue Amber, which lies along four kilometres of untouched Indian Ocean coastline at Matemwe in the northeast of the island, occupies 410 hectares of tropical landscape. It will feature multiple hotels and luxury residences, plus villas available for purchase.
It will also incorporate East Africa's first 18-hole Signature golf course.
Blue Amber will boast a ‘mini-Stone Town’ with retail space on the ground floor and 22 two-bedroom apartments above. Also planned are facilities such as a football pitch; courts for tennis, squash, beach volleyball and basketball; archery; and a skateboard park. The retail amenities within the resort will include a mini supermarket, outdoor, indoor, and beachfront restaurants with rooftop bars, a gym, liquor store, sports bar, health and beauty store, bike-rental store, hairdressers and laundry services – to name a few. Once completed, Blue Amber will also contain an impressive shoreline aqua leisure centre offering a comprehensive water sports facility.
Construction of the first villa residences is currently under way, with completion scheduled for early to mid-2023, and 54 luxury villas are available for purchase, with prices starting from US$197 125 (R3m) for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit with a roof-top terrace, or from $319 000 (R5m) for a double-storey three-bedroom, three-bathroom villa. The development also offers four- and five-bedroom homes.
Grant Anderson, CEO of Blue Amber, said buyers would receive a host of tax benefits when purchasing within the development due to its status as a Strategic Investment Project. They will also receive residency permits for themselves as well as their immediate family.
