Exciting developments are taking place in the Nigerian real estate sector where investors, especially those involved in building new cities, are scaling up their developments with innovative designs and world-class infrastructure.
One of such developments is the Alaro City—an inclusive, mixed-use city-scale development in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, where the developer has adopted innovative infrastructure building systems intended to serve as a benchmark for new cities in the country.
The new city is a joint venture project between the Lagos State government and Rendeavour— a new city builder in Africa. The city project, which was launched in January 2019, is sitting on 2,000 hectares of land in the North-West Quadrant of the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
The city is designed to include industrial and logistics locations complemented by offices, homes, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, entertainment and parks and open spaces.
Currently, the city’s first 3.5 kilometre road – a four-lane, asphalt thoroughfare with a four-metre median that has adopted modern best practices and delivered an efficient drainage system—is being constructed.
Bailey Ligtas, the city’s construction manager, told journalists on tour of the project site last week that the city’s road infrastructure, designed by leading engineering firm, Arup, is the first of four major access points from the Lekki-Epe Expressway, just metres away from the gate of the city.
“We are also developing an independent power plant solution by connecting to a nearby gas pipeline. Water supply for the first phase is also at an advanced stage,” Ligtas said.
“In building Alaro City, Rendeavour has provided solutions to urban planning and city-building problems unique to Lagos,” Ligtas noted, adding, “to ensure effective flood management, Rendeavour has adopted a rain garden drainage system that not only provides a unique landscaping opportunity, but also ensures the development is not afflicted by open drainage systems.”
Green areas, parks and open spaces in the cover more than 150 hectares and form part of the drainage strategy of the city via five ‘greenways’. These are designed to provide an area for leisure activities and also carry surface water to the lagoon.
As a city, Alaro has gained increasing recognition for its world-class master plan and the innovation it represents in modern city building. In July, the city’s master plan won the international Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award, beating prestigious projects such as the Amazon HQ2 supersite in Dallas and the 5M project in San Francisco. In September, Alaro City was also voted ‘Emerging Project of the Year’ by PropertyPro.ng at the Africa Real Estate Awards.
Odunayo Ojo, CEO of Alaro City, says the city has already sold out phase one of its residential ‘buy-and-build’ plots, with phase two well underway, adding that several Nigerian, regional and multinational companies are building commercial and industrial facilities in the city.
“Alaro City lies in the growth path of Lagos and aims to serve as a model for what a modern mixed-use city looks like,” he said, adding, “we have partnered with renowned experts in various fields to ensure that our culture of high standards is sustained.”
Rendeavour’s pedigree has been identified by industry experts as a key contributor to the growing success of the satellite city. Rendeavour is currently building seven new cities in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo, with over 60 industries already building their businesses at the cities and over 6,000 homes in development.
CHUKA UROKO
