Woodley Estate is situated approximately 4.4 kilometers west of Nairobi's central business district. It is bounded by Ngong Road to the south, with Kilimani Estate to the north, Golf Course to the east, and Kibera to the south. Most of Woodley Estate falls within the Kibra Constituency electorally.

The estate was brought to life by Sir Richard Woodley, a colonial mayor of Nairobi. Construction of the estate began in the late 1940s and was completed in 1950. Woodley originally consisted of 300 housing units, including flats and two- and three-bedroom standalone houses.

During colonial Kenya, Woodley was a whites-only neighborhood. However, after independence, the white residents either left the country or moved to more upscale neighborhoods such as Karen, Kitisuru, and Westlands. The estate then became home to influential African locals who had risen in social status, including politicians and trade unionists.

In 1959, Adams Arcade Shopping Centre, the first of its kind in the area, was completed in Woodley to serve the estate's residents and surrounding communities. Zoned as a residential neighborhood with occasional apartments, Woodley Estate primarily caters to Nairobi's middle-income segment, with buildings limited to a maximum of four storeys. With the population of Nairobi growing rapidly, Nairobi City County Government ear-marked Woodley Estate for redevelopment to set up more houses to cater to the increasing demand for housing.