Despite the allure of largely empty mansions, well paved roads with expansive and beautifully landscaped compounds that define the Ikoyi and Victoria Island neighbourhoods, new investible money is now finding its way into a hitherto rural, sleepy and outlying community called Ibeju Lekki in Lagos.
This evolving ‘city’ is the new hub for investors. Its character, stature and value have undergone dramatic change by virtue of the massive developments and infrastructure provision taking place there. Before now, the only real estate development of note in this community was the Amen Estate developed by Tunde Gbadamosi’s Redbrick Homes International which intoduced a new innovation in aesthetics and energy-saving in housing delivery.
Ibeji Lekki is home to one of Africa’s largest free trade zones—the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). The facts about this community are not only interesting, but also compelling, especially for savvy and patient investors with long term view of the property market.
“The prospects are high at this upcoming free trade zone. After the commissioning of the zone by the president, a lot of people are already asking if we have anything to offer. I see that axis starting to develop; I see it starting to boom and because there is cheap land there, it is an area our company is already looking at for affordable housing development. Private developers are already doing developments there”, an estate developer, who did not want to be named, confirmed in an interview.
Lekki Deep Seaport, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Industry, Dangote Fertilizer Plant, International (Cargo) Airport, Lekki International Golf Course, Pan Atlantic University, Eleganza Industries are some of the developments in this community that has seen a good number of investors, especially real estate developers, taking position by acquiring large tranches of bare land and selling same in bits to buyers at “cheap” prices.
Over 1,000 staff of Dangote Refinery are to be provided accommodation by developers, while others are still providing within and outside the zone. Over 8,000 engineers will be engaged by Dangote Refinery.
The combined demand for real estate assets by the staff of this company alone means that a plot of land that is sold for N500,000 today will be going for over a million naira in the next couple of years. The satisfaction of their housing needs is a huge opportunity for both public and private investors.
Adron Homes is leading the pack of ‘new generation’ estate development companies that are already taking advantage of both the new developments and roads infrastructure driving property demand and prices in that axis.
Unconfirmed report has it that the LFTZ has attracted about $10.1billion investment commitments from about 49 investors. Presently, only about 20 percent of the available space around the area is being utilized and injection of investments in the region is set to transform the existing environs into a highly industrialized area with mixed-use developments, leading to rapid economic growth, increased migration rate and creation of about 300,000 jobs.
The 300,000 jobs to be created are potential sources of demand for real estate assets as all of these workers will be needing residential and commercial real estate for living, working and even for leisure. It remains unimaginable what land prices are like to be in that enclave in the medium to long term when most of the projects come on streams and government’s road infrastructure are completed.
The area is properly planned and free from congestion, leaving it relatively and adequately secured. There is an on-going expansion of the road by the Federal Government in that axis which gives access to Epe, Ijebu and towards the eastern part of the country.
The expansion of the Lekki-Epeh Expressway by the Lagos State government is another attraction to this community and as is known generally, road infrastructure enhances value of real estate investment. Roads infrastructure, particularly, remains a major driver of real estate investment and development as it helps to lower the cost of construction by as much as 30 percent.
Federal Government is also doing its bit by the re-habilitation and reconstruction of Benin-Shagamu road and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to enhance the distribution of over 35 percent of farm produce from the zone to the hinterland.
Since the slight improvement in, and the gradual recovery of the economy, there has been revitalization and continuation of a few infrastructure projects many of which are critical not only to opening up new real estate hot spots, but also driving key economic investments in the country as a whole.
The Federal Government has partnered with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and Julius Berger to resume work on the 34km Bonny – Bodo road construction. The ₦120.6 billion project would be a landmark achievement, considering that it had been in the cooler in the last 40 years.
The 1,100 kilometre Standard Gauge Rail (SGR) will go a long way in increasing the current national capacity of 15,000 metric tonnes per year.
To finance these projects among others, it was a delight to see the federal government’s sukuk fund over-subscribed by N5.8 billion. The 7-year N100 billion fund will also be applied to the construction and rehabilitation of 25 priority road projects spread throughout the country.
Other pipeline infrastructure projects expected to have far reaching impact on the economy and the real include the Apapa road reconstruction expected to cost n4.34 billion and the Lagos-Ibadan standard rail project.
With these developments, it is hoped that more hinterlands will be opened across the country and that will impact positively on business and economy. Close market watchers estimate that in the 10 years, Ibeju Lekki may turn out to be another Banana Island in terms of property value, hence the wisdom in moving cash to that part of town for investment in either land or housing or both.
CHUKA UROKO
