Lekki Gardens: When luxury living becomes affordable

Over the years, the term luxury and affordability have remained distant in several aspects as it is believed that only the elite can pay for either expensive items or even savour a pleasurable experience.

Reasonably so, there is a clear distinction in the Lagos real estate market where uptown neighbourhoods which are synonymous with luxurious apartments have over the years continuously edged other mid-income neighbourhoods in pricing.

The foregoing is however been overturned by what was before now a mere real estate consulting firm; GTRich Consulting Limited. Determined to redefine the possibility of mid-income earners owning homes in highbrow areas of Lagos such as the Lekki axis, GTRich Investment Limited is currently building what could end up as the largest upscale, exquisite but affordable estate for intending homeowners and savvy investors.

Having entered the market in 2010 with the premium Lekki Gardens Phase I Estate, the firm has succeeded in providing Nigeria’s upwardly mobile middle class with over 1,000 units of different house types through its second, third and fourth phase of Lekki Gardens estates as well as the much coveted; The Horizon project.

“We are committed to providing Nigeria’s growing middle class with choice, comfy but affordable apartments in as many serene and upscale neighbourhoods as possible within the highly sought after Lekki-epe corridor, Azuka Ugboh, media director in GTRich Investment Limited, once told BusinessDay.

While the first phase of the premium Lekki Gardens estate has been fully occupied, the second, third and fourth phases of the estate have been fully sold out, leaving intending homeowners with Lekki Garden Phase III extension which is an off-shot of the third phase and the New Horizon available for subscription.

At these available estates homeowners can own a wide range of different house types which include a two bedroom apartment, three bedroom terrace duplex, four bedroom terrace duplex, five bedroom fully detached duplexes and the fully detached deluxe duplex.

The two bedroom apartment which comes as a shell unit comprises of two well-spaced bedrooms coming in a block of three floors with prices starting from N9.8million.

The three bedroom terrace duplex boasts of a comfortable living room, a dining area, lounge, balcony a maid’s room and a kitchen with pantry, while the masters, an extra bedroom both en suite sells from N12.8 million.

The four bedroom terrace duplex which is available at the Phase III extension comes with a living room, a maid’s room and a kitchen with pantry at its ground floor; while upstairs is the luxurious master bedroom en suite with a walk in closet, a lounge and a balcony. In addition are other two spacious bedrooms all en suite with price starting from N17 million.

At the new horizon, the premium five bedroom fully detached houses boasts of four spacious rooms all en suite and its attending boy’s quarter sitting on a 450sqm land with prices starting from N65 million which is good deal for its uptown neighbourhood.

Its trademark amenities at the estates include but not limited to; stealth-level security, potable water, excellent drainage and sewage system, underground electrical wiring, street lights and well paved inter-locked road network.

Despite its landmark achievements in the market in the past few years, the Lekki Gardens dream has however had its challenges.

According to Ugboh, one of the firm’s major challenge is the doubt that has clouded the market in recent times, as clients fear that developers might not deliver on their promise, especially when it has do with off-plan sales.

“However, at GTRich we have been able to allay those fears by delivering the first phase in our series of Lekki Gardens,” he noted

“Also with the first, second, third and fourth phase of our projects fully subscribed, it is obvious our clients have a great deal of trust on us and that further informed our decision to see them as our partners rather than just clients,” he added.

“There is also the difficulty of the terrain on some of our projects because of the swampy nature of the Lekki environment; however, we have been able to tackle this by employing strategies that have helped us to dredge the areas,” Ugboh said, disclosing that they construct their houses with raft foundation at some of the challenging sites to guard against future environment challenges.

ODINAKA MBONU