200 new holiday apartments for sale on the west coast.
By Andrea Tapper
Known as The Soul, Zanzibar’s first residential resort continues its unique success story. After selling out in Paje on the east coast, the holiday apartments go west. In Fumba Town buyers can even opt for a new move-in-pay-later scheme.
It’s one of the rare rainy days in paradise. Raining cats and dogs actually, when Milan Heilmann takes me around The Soul in Paje. Since 2019, the project manager of developer CPS has been supervising the construction of Zanzibar’s first residential resort, only 300 metres walking distance from the famous kite surfing beach. Now it’s almost complete.
On sunny days the scene here looks like this: young couples return from the beach, store their SUPs and surfboards before entering their lofty apartments through a garden door. Palm trees create a soft shade while a beautiful woman in her forties relaxes on her penthouse terrace, her husband mixing some drinks inside. And thanks to the monsoon rains, a lush tropical garden is already embracing the eleven apartment blocks in Paje’s hinterland, most of them fully finished and rentable (see box), some under finalisation. Pointing at palm trees, colourful bougeanivilla, banana trees and a gangling bamboo forest, project manager Heilmann, 32, summarises the resort’s philosophy: “Modern living in tropical surroundings.” The breaking news is, that after the completion of the east coast Soul, the residential resort will get a twin sister on the west coast in the urban setting of eco city Fumba Town. 200 holiday apartments – about the same amount as in Paje – with one to three bedrooms are planned.
The Soul is an entirely new player within the tourism landscape for several reasons. It’s the first large scale holiday apartment complex in Zanzibar. Foreigners are entitled to buy here. In Fumba Town, near the capital, buyers even get additional benefits: a residency permit and a five year payment plan, starting at around 1,200 dollars per month. ”You will be able to move into and enjoy your apartment even before finishing payments”, explains Tobias Dietzold, one of the directors of developer CPS. Prices for 1-3 bedroom apartments and penthouses range from 67,900 dollars to 250,900 dollars. And there’s another plus to the soulfoul holiday residences: designed by Spanish architect Lucas Oyteza, they implement a hybrid, sustainable wood construction technology, a big plus for climate conscious travellers.
Best holidays near Stone Town Sold-out in record time in Paje, “we want to give holidaymakers of all ages now the chance to purchase a Soul apartment in Fumba”, CPS directors Sebastian and Tobias Dietzold said when launching the look-alikes. Soul Fumba is close to the airport and Stone Town, embedded in urban infrastructure and has glorious west coast sunsets. CPS is a local company with German background and has sold more houses and apartments in Zanzibar than any other company. Both Soul projects nestle around a large lagoon, the ultimate relax area exclusively for residents. The sale of has just commenced, with first buyers coming actually from Paje – apparently convinced not only of the twin project’s charm but similarities.
When launching the new touristic hot spot, Tobias Dietzold elaborated: “Fumba Town is a mixed-used urban centre and will now be complemented with the beautiful holiday apartments of The Soul which will add even more variety to the green urban community.” Eventually 20,000 people will live in the growing suburb along 1,5 kilometres seafront. Other than the north and east coast beaches, Fumba is only a 20-minute drive away from the airport and Stone Town. A sports centre is also planned on the sunset coast, where more and more developments are taking place. Go west! Booming tourism in Zanzibar, it seems, has found a new darling location.
