The Project
Construction began on 3 September on a 14-storey residential and commercial building in Kiyovu, Nyarugenge, led by investor Linda Lai through her company, Lumia Lux. The project is expected to cost $20 million and take about 18 months.
It will have 12 floors above ground and two parking levels with more than 80 spaces, and offer studios, one to three bedroom apartments and a 1,278 square metre penthouse, with a rooftop pool, solar panels, a gym, a supermarket and a restaurant.
Two Households Become 93
The plot was home to two households. The finished building will hold about 93 units of 200 to 300 square metres each, some 18,000 square metres of floor space in all. The two original households are to be rehoused in the building.
That is the rehousing model in private hands: an owner without the capital to redevelop agrees terms with a developer who pays for construction, and ownership is split by an agreed formula, as a percentage or as specific units or floors. An engineer quoted by The New Times gave an example: an owner of land worth RWF 100 million, joining a RWF 600 million development, could receive units worth RWF 100 million or more, depending on the negotiation.
What It Would Take to Scale
The president of the Rwanda Urban Planners Institute said private investors can build but cannot relocate people, so government must settle compensation, relocation and ownership before a site is tendered. He also called for enforceable condominium titles, clear rent-to-own rules and extra floors for projects that include affordable units. The City of Kigali plans to work with private investors on 10,000 affordable homes within five years, using the rehousing approach already under way in Gitega Sector.
The money is arriving: registered real estate investment commitments reached $855.5 million in 2025, more than double the $377.7 million of 2024, according to the Rwanda Development Board.
What It Means for Owners
For owners of large, underused plots in central Kigali, the land may be worth more as a share of a building than as a sale. Know what your plot is worth on its own before a developer makes an offer: start with the free value check and the Kiyovu price page.