New island neighbourhoods are emerging to compete with existing highbrow settlements such as Banana Island in Ikoyi, and Victoria Garden City (VGC) in Lekki, offering home seekers and investors viable alternatives to those pricey and exclusive neighbourhoods.
The new neighbourhoods aim to service Nigeria’s growing population, particularly the emerging middle class. The $6 billion Eko Atlantic City leads the pack, along with Orange Island and Gracefield (Phoenix) Island.
Unarguably, Banana Island, a predominantly residential layout, built on reclaimed land from the ocean, is today the most expensive and exclusive neighbourhood in all of Nigeria and remains the most sought after address, harbouring luxury homes and costly parcels of land which sell for about N400, 000 (about $1,326) per square metre.
However, these emerging urban communities are offering value, comfort and luxury comparable to those obtainable in the existing neighbourhoods, given their relative affordability, stronger value proposition as mixed-use developments, and standard infrastructure.
Housing industry operators affirm that these are upscale neighbourhoods are comparable to Banana Island and VGC, pointing out that their emergence is developers’ response to growing demand from a growing population.
“What is happening is that developers have realised that where you have a decent population, there would always be craving for well laid out communities or estates. So, the developers of Orange Island, or Gracefield Island, for instance, saw an opportunity to create first class layouts close to Lekki Phase 1”, said Rogba Orimolade, an estate surveyor and valuer.
Orange Island is a new residential destination rising off the coast of the Lagos Lagoon, just 800 metres away from Lekki Phase 1 and holds promise for exclusive, first grade living with standard infrastructure.
Unlike Banana Island, it will be a mixed-use development comprising residential, commercial and leisure facilities with a low-density population estimated at 9,000 residents.
The islands offer strong value propositions, as alternative ‘urban escapes’ from the increasingly busy and commercialised Lekki Phase 1 and, according Ebitu Ukiwe, CEO, Locus Promotion—a real estate marketing firm—Orange island particularly is cost-effective, as it still has some private plots available for sale at all-inclusive prices, starting from N110 million per plot.
Gracefield Island is set to compete with the existing neighbourhoods being a luxury development, likened only to Dubai’s Palmtree Island and offering opportunities to people to live in luxury houses, work in ultramodern office complexes, shop in the best shopping malls and play in the most exquisite tourism centres.
It is a mega residential and commercial community being promoted by Gravitas Investments Limited which assures that Lagos is set to witness a fundamental positive shift in new city development and real estate construction, as the island is designed and being implemented to be eco-friendly and ensure sustainability in all aspects of its development.
Tayo Odunsi, an estate surveyor and valuer affirms that these islands hold promise for a variety of house-types, ranging from condominium to terraced houses and single household units, constructed to world-class standard, and offered at reasonable prices. There is a commercial area at Gracefield with a business park that will offer purpose-built office environment to generate the vibrance and orderliness necessary for wealth creation centres.
Odunsi, also the CEO, Northcourt Real Estate, notes that new urban communities such as Orange Island, Gracefield Island and Eko Atlantic are usually desirable to buyers, as they offer better planned and qualitative infrastructure in comparison to public main areas, amongst other reasons.
But much as she believes these new islands can compete with the existing upscale neighbourhoods and that there is a need for them in a massive city like Lagos, Erejuwa Gbadebo, an architect, has her reservations with the design of these new cities, especially with their roads infrastructure.
“I thought that by now there should be a massive network of bridges by the coastlines that will interconnect those new towns like the fourth mainland bridge.
“We expect the Lagos State Government to be doing a whole lot of roads and bridges infrastructure that should connect these islands to the major roads and bridges so that people can connect to them.
“I also expect the islands to have within them, an arrangement that will cater for the junior people, especially the middle class who are already disappearing from the larger society. Let there be an arrangement for this class of people within their own purchasing power”, she advised.
Odunsi believes there are a couple of factors that make new developments successful, one of which is the presence of an anchor occupier which helps to attract other users to the estate. “VGC had the Nicon Hotel, Chrisland School, the VGC Shopping complex and proximity to Ikota Shopping Mall as attractors to the scheme, while Banana Island had Ocean Parade, the Airtel office building among others. I believe also that anchor occupiers will go a long way in ensuring early stages of success for these emerging islands”, he noted.
