Galaxy ONE Westlands: Why the 1 and 2-Bedroom Apartments on Rhapta Road Are the Ones Serious Buyers Are Moving On
Let’s be direct about something. When a development appears on Kenya Property Centre, BuyRentKenya, GNA Real Estate, Ravi Homes, Commercial Property Kenya, and Own It Kenya simultaneously — all with active listings, all with different agents competing to place buyers — it is not a coincidence. The property industry does not converge like this on developments out of enthusiasm. It converges on projects that buyers are genuinely enquiring about.
Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale Westlands is the Nairobi off-plan project generating the most cross-agent enquiry volume in the mid-market segment right now. The 1 and 2-bedroom units specifically are the configurations that account for the majority of that interest. This article explains why — in specific terms, not promotional ones.
Own It Kenya lists Galaxy ONE. We also manage properties on Rhapta Road and the surrounding Westlands corridor. We have skin in this recommendation. We also have 15 years of data on what performs on this street and what does not, and Galaxy ONE’s specific combination of design, location, and amenity package is the strongest we have seen at this price point on Rhapta Road.
Rhapta Road: The Address Most Serious Westlands Investors Already Know
Rhapta Road connects Westlands to Riverside Drive and runs parallel to the diplomatic and corporate residential corridor that consistently commands the highest rents in the neighbourhood. It is not a peripheral Westlands street. It is not a street that calls itself Westlands while being 15 minutes from the actual neighbourhood. It is a central, active address where buildings have been consistently letting to corporate, expat, and young professional tenants for years.
The Rhapta Road tenant profile is specific. Professionals working in GTC or the surrounding corporate cluster who want a quieter address than Mogotio Road. Expat couples who want the Westlands social infrastructure — restaurants, rooftop bars, proximity to Sarit and Westgate — without the commercial intensity of the Ring Road corridor. NGO and development sector professionals who want to be within 20 minutes of the Gigiri UN campus. These are tenants who pay KES 100,000 to KES 160,000 per month for a furnished 1-bedroom and KES 140,000 to KES 220,000 for a furnished 2-bedroom when the building earns it.
Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale, Westlands, sit adjacent to Willowdale Apartments, just off Waiyaki Way, on a position that gives the building GTC-corridor adjacency without being in the middle of GTC’s commercial density. The address works for both the tenant who wants urban energy and the tenant who wants to decompress when they get home. That balance is not easy to achieve in Westlands, and it is part of why Rhapta Road consistently performs.
| Rhapta Road in Westlands is the address that shows up most consistently in Own It Kenya’s tenanted portfolio alongside the GTC corridor. The mix of corporate, expat, and professional tenant demand on this street is genuine and structural — not dependent on a single employer or one-off event driving it. |
What Galaxy ONE Actually Is: The Specification in Plain Terms
Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale in Westlands is an off-plan residential development on Rhapta Road by Lionston Real Estate. It occupies half an acre, has 210 apartments across two blocks (A and B), and is positioned to complete in June 2027. A 20% deposit secures a unit with the balance spread across the remaining construction period.
The design is the most distinctive thing about it, and the detail that most competing articles fail to explain clearly. Galaxy ONE has 3.15-metre ceiling heights per level. To put that in context: most Nairobi apartments have ceiling heights of 2.4 to 2.7 metres. The difference of 45 to 75 centimetres is not visible on a floor plan. It is visceral when you are standing in the unit.
High ceilings change the feel of an apartment in a way that finishes, and furniture cannot compensate for. A 57 square metre 1-bedroom with 3.15-metre ceilings feels like a different product from a 70 square metre 1-bedroom with standard 2.6-metre ceilings. It feels more spacious, more premium, and more worth photographing — which matters enormously for the Airbnb listing that will eventually represent this unit to guests making booking decisions.
The curved floor-to-ceiling glass windows in the living rooms are the visual signature of the building. Dual green courtyards deliver natural light to units that would otherwise face internal spaces. Every apartment has natural ventilation and sunlight by design rather than as a bonus for the lucky corner units.
| Details | |
| Project | Galaxy ONE Apartments |
| Location | Rhapta Road, next to Willowdale Apartments, off Waiyaki Way, Westlands |
| Developer | Lionston Real Estate |
| Total units | 210 apartments across Block A and Block B |
| Ceiling height | 3.15 metres per level — significantly above the Nairobi standard of 2.4 to 2.7m |
| Windows | Curved floor-to-ceiling glass in living rooms; artistic design finesse |
| Natural light | Dual green courtyards; every unit enjoys natural ventilation and sunlight |
| Completion | June 2027 |
| 1BR from | KES 8.03M (57.08 sqm, Type A5) — to KES 8.96M (59.62 sqm, Type A6) |
| 2BR from | KES 12.03M (82.67 sqm, Type A4) — to KES 14.10M (90.66 sqm, Type A1) |
| Payment | 20% deposit, balance spread to June 2027 |
The Amenities: What Sets Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale Westlands Apart on a Street That Already Has Good Buildings
Rhapta Road is not underserved. There are established quality buildings on this street with pools and gyms. When Galaxy ONE entered this corridor, it needed to offer something that the existing supply does not. The amenity package is specifically designed to do that.
The rooftop infinity pool with 360-degree city views
This is the amenity that closes Airbnb bookings. Not because it is expensive — rooftop pools exist in several Westlands buildings. But a rooftop infinity pool at a height that gives genuine 360-degree city views is a visual proposition. The photograph of that pool with Nairobi’s skyline behind it is the thumbnail that generates the click on an Airbnb or Booking.com listing.
That click becomes a booking. That booking becomes a review. That review lifts the listing’s search ranking. This is the flywheel that starts with a rooftop photograph and ends with consistent above-average occupancy. Galaxy ONE’s rooftop pool delivers the photograph that drives this.
The private theatre
A private cinema in a residential building is rare in Nairobi. Its presence in Galaxy ONE’s amenity package achieves two specific things. First, it makes the building memorable in the Airbnb listing comparison. A guest choosing between two otherwise similar 1-bedrooms on Rhapta Road will choose the building with a private cinema because it is a story — something to mention to the colleague back in London or the family on a video call. Second, it is a genuine quality-of-life amenity for long-term residents who want the building’s shared spaces to offer more than a gym and a pool.
The yoga deck and spa with sauna
The wellness amenity package at Galaxy ONE — yoga deck, spa, sauna — targets the specific tenant profile that Rhapta Road attracts: professionals in their 30s and 40s who make health and recovery part of their weekly routine and who will pay a KES 10,000 to KES 20,000 monthly premium to live in a building that saves them a gym or wellness club membership.
The economic logic is straightforward. The tenant who would pay KES 25,000 a month for a wellness club membership will pay a higher monthly rent to live in a building that includes equivalent facilities.
Mini-golf, coffee lounge, children’s play area
The full amenity list also includes mini-golf, a coffee lounge, and a children’s play area — a breadth that signals this is not a single-profile development. Mini-golf and a coffee lounge appeal to the young professional and corporate expat.
The children’s play area positions the building for couples with young children and international families on assignment, who represent a completely different but equally valuable long-term tenant demographic.
The 1-Bedroom and 2-Bedroom Units: Who Each One Is Actually For
The 1-bedroom at Galaxy ONE
From KES 7.03 million for a 57.08 square metre Type A5 unit, rising to KES 7.96 million for the 59.62 square metre Type A6. These are compact units — the floor area is not extraordinary. What is extraordinary is what the 3.15-metre ceiling height, the curved glass windows, and the dual courtyard natural light do to a 57 square metre apartment. The unit feels significantly larger than its floor plan suggests.
This matters for both owner-occupiers who want to live well in a smaller space and investors who need the unit to photograph convincingly for Airbnb.
The 1-bedroom at Galaxy ONE is the highest-yield unit in the building on a cost-per-shilling basis. A furnished Type A5 1-bedroom, professionally managed on the Rhapta Road short-stay market, can earn KES 7,000 to KES 9,500 per night at 50 to 60% occupancy. That is KES 105,000 to KES 170,000 gross per month on a KES 7.03 million purchase — a gross yield of 18 to 29% before costs. Long-term furnished rental earns KES 100,000 to KES 140,000 per month on this building’s expected specification, representing a gross yield of 17 to 24% annually.
The 2-bedroom at Galaxy ONE
From KES 11.03 million for an 82.67 square metre Type A4, rising to KES 12.10 million for a 90.66 square metre Type A1. The 2-bedroom is the unit for buyers who either want to live in the apartment themselves or who are specifically targeting the corporate couple or expat family tenant segment. At 82 to 90 square metres with 3.15-metre ceilings, these are genuinely spacious units. The frontage and curved glass create a living room that functions as the apartment’s centrepiece rather than an afterthought.
A furnished 2-bedroom at Galaxy ONE targets the tenant earning enough to pay KES 140,000 to KES 220,000 per month in rent — the corporate professional on a housing allowance, the expat couple who wants a proper second bedroom for working from home or for visits from family.
Gross yield on the 2-bedroom at KES 11 to 12 million against KES 150,000 per month long-term rent runs 15 to 18% annually. On the Airbnb model at 50 to 60% occupancy, earning KES 10,000 to KES 16,000 per night, gross monthly income can reach KES 150,000 to KES 270,000.
| Unit | Size | Price from | Furnished rent | Gross yield |
| 1BR (57sqm) | 57 sqm | KES 7.03M | KES 100,000–140,000 | 17–24% |
| 1BR (60sqm) | 59.6 sqm | KES 7.96M | KES 110,000–150,000 | 17–22% |
| 2BR (83sqm) | 82.7 sqm | KES 11.03M | KES 140,000–200,000 | 15–22% |
| 2BR (91sqm) | 90.7 sqm | KES 12.10M | KES 160,000–220,000 | 16–21% |
Net yield after service charges, management fees, and KRA tax obligations: approximately 11 to 16% for long-term furnished leases; 10 to 20% for the short-stay model, depending on occupancy management quality. These are the realistic numbers, not the best-case ones.
The Off-Plan Logic: Why June 2027 Is an Advantage
June 2027 is 12 to 14 months away from a mid-2026 purchase. That is a short off-plan window by Nairobi standards — most quality developments complete two to three years after launch.
The relatively short construction timeline at Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale in Westlands means the capital appreciation window is compressed, but the wait for income generation is shorter than the market average.
Rhapta Road quality apartments have appreciated at 5 to 8% annually in recent years. On a one-year window from mid-2026 to June 2027, a conservatively moderate 5% appreciation on a KES 7.03 million 1-bedroom is KES 351,500 in equity before the first tenancy. On a KES 12.10 million 2-bedroom, 5% is KES 605,000. These are not large numbers compared to a three-year off-plan window, but they are equity gains that cost nothing beyond acting before completion.
The more important factor is floor selection. Galaxy ONE has multiple floors and two blocks. Upper floors with the rooftop pool visible above and the city skyline in view earn measurably more rent than lower floors. The buyers who engage now choose their floor and orientation.
Those who wait for completion work with what remains. On a building with a 360-degree rooftop infinity pool as its signature amenity, being on a floor where the building’s height and views work in your favour is not a minor detail.
Who Should Be Looking at Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale in Westlands Right Now
The Airbnb investor who wants a headline amenity
The private theatre and the 360-degree rooftop pool are the two features that differentiate a Galaxy ONE Airbnb listing from the competition on Rhapta Road. Every business traveller booking a Westlands apartment on Airbnb chooses the building, not just the unit.
A building with a private cinema is remembered. A building with a city-view infinity pool generates the Instagram post that other guests see and investigate. Galaxy ONE’s amenity package is designed for exactly this dynamic, and the 1-bedroom at KES 7 to 8 million is the most financially accessible way into it.
The professional couple is buying their first serious Nairobi apartment
A 2-bedroom at Galaxy ONE for KES 11 to 12 million, with 3.15-metre ceilings, curved glass, and a building that includes a yoga deck, spa, rooftop pool, and private cinema, is a quality of life purchase as much as it is an investment.
The professional couple who buys here is not compromising on any of the things they care about — space, light, design, building community, lifestyle amenities — at a price that compares favourably to completed equivalents in the neighbourhood.
The diaspora investor who wants a distinctive Westlands product
For Kenyans in the UK, USA, Canada, or the Gulf looking for a Nairobi investment that photographs well, rents reliably, and has the kind of amenity profile that a Nairobi-based property manager can use to attract premium short-stay guests or long-term corporate tenants, Galaxy ONE 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for sale Westlands on Rhapta Road is the current best answer in the mid-market Westlands off-plan segment. Own It Kenya handles the full remote purchase process and manages the unit post-completion. You invest in Nairobi. We manage. You receive statements.
The Next Step
Galaxy ONE 1 and 2-bedroom apartments for sale in Westlands are generating more cross-agent enquiry volume than any other mid-market Westlands off-plan project right now. That tells you something about the market’s view of it. The 1-bedroom from KES 7.03 million and the 2-bedroom from KES 11.03 million are the units driving most of that interest. June 2027 completion means the wait is short. The best floors in the best orientation go first.
Own It Kenya lists Galaxy ONE. We can discuss specific unit and floor options, the payment plan structure, and what a realistic income looks like for your specific configuration. Zoom calls available for diaspora buyers at times that work across UK, Gulf, and North American schedules.
| Contact Own It Kenya about Galaxy ONE apartments:
• Website: www.ownitkenya.com — Galaxy ONE listing and floor plans • Email: sales@ownitkenya.com • Phone / WhatsApp: +254 722 716 182 • Phone / WhatsApp: +254 720 469 282 • Office: Parklands, Nairobi — Westlands Rhapta Road specialists, 15 years of market experience • Zoom consultations: UK, USA, Canada, UAE and Australia |
About Own It Kenya
Own It Kenya is a licensed property letting, sales, and management company founded by Mr. Karue Mwaniki, based in Parklands, Nairobi. We list and manage property across Westlands, Riverside, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Lavington, and Parklands. Galaxy ONE on Rhapta Road is one of our current priority listings in Westlands. With over 15 years of market experience, we serve local buyers, diaspora investors, and families.
sales@ownitkenya.com • +254 722 716 182 • +254 720 469 282 • www.ownitkenya.com
