On an incremental basis, Gracefield Island is evolving, shaping out into an island city that promises to offer a unique urban living and lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle that define the larger city of Lagos.
In the estimation of the developers, Gracefield is a bold statement on island city development with high build quality and superior infrastructure which are the hallmarks of sustainable smart cities.
This island city, being developed by Gravitas Investments, is conceived as a new cosmopolitan integrated city, and it is being implemented as such. It is being created through reclamation within the Lagos Lagoon, and sits 2.3 kilometres from the shoreline of Chevron Drive in Lekki Central, Lagos.
The island is connected to the Chevron Drive by a 2.3km land bridge constructed by Gravitas. It will be served by the 8km Lekki Regional Road currently under construction by the Lagos State government, to run from Victoria Garden City to the end of Freedom Way in Lekki Phase 1.
As a sustainable and smart city, Gracefield Island is a phased development with the first phase sitting on an area measuring approximately 100 hectares. That is now being expanded to the north in response to rising demand from institutional investors and businesses that want to be part of the island city. The land reclamation aspect is in joint venture with Lagos State government.
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Of great interest in the Gracefield Island development is the quality of project partners the developers have assembled. These are reputable names in engineering and construction. Van Oord reclaimed most part of phase 1 of the project. The leading Dutch marine engineering company, Boskalis, is now expanding the island on its Phase 2 and completing Phase 1.
Aurecon (Zutari) of South Africa carried out the master planning in conjunction with Stauch Vorster. Thus far, Gracefield Island is reclaimed to 2.3 metres above Mean Sea Level, and is well served by storm water drainage channels.
As a smart city, the developer spares no efforts at ensuring sustainability. “Our commitment to this sustainability and excellent lifestyle explains why there are dedicated cycle lanes. This city blazes the trail in Nigeria with Electric Vehicle Charging Station as part of its transportation infrastructure,” Olufemi Babalola, Founder/Chief Executive of Gravitas Investments explained to BusinessDay.
Consistent with international best practice in city development, infrastructure is given priority in this island city. The great milestone which the developers have achieved revolve mainly around infrastructure and sustainable environment.
In the last 24 months, Gracefield Island has planted over 2500 trees with plans to have at least 5,000 trees on the island and diversified green areas in its flagship Central Park, spanning 1 kilometre in length.
Babalola explained further that key utilities such as electricity and water are off-grid with high level of Quality Assurance in service delivery. To this end, the project has signed up to the International Finance Corporation’s Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (IFC’s EDGE) sustainability programme.
The island is also in collaboration with Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) for purposes of nature conservation programme. It is an active member of New Cities Alliance.
