With the real estate space evolving to accommodate emerging demands of modern housing and shortages of liquidity to fund existing projects, many firms in the sector are grappling to keep afloat with scarce resources.
At a meeting with investors and mentees recently, he shared his vision for the future of his real estate company. Against this backdrop, the executive chairman of Gtext Holdings, Stephen Akintayo, has revealed that Gtext Homes is set to build the largest green estate in the history of the United State of America.
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Akintayo, who is regarded as a serial entrepreneur and Africa’s most influential investment coach, would in five years build the largest green luxury estate in the housing history of the United States of America (USA).
From the days of humble beginnings as a bulk SMS broker in Nigeria, Akintayo has metamorphosed into building one of Africa’s most formidable real estate firms in modern history spreading the company’s reach from Nigeria to the UAE, America and the United Kingdom.
With a diverse array of investment options ranging from land purchase to house purchase, the introduction of land banking has also opened a leeway for investors to key into crowdfunding estate projects to earn a return on their investments.
The green estate which would sit on 40 acres of arable land would also account for the largest stretch of luxury housing in the United States of America raising the bar for the fusion of luxury and technology in modern housing.
According to Akintayo, the building designs for the project would range from mansions to apartments and single family units standing exclusively in Houston-Texas.
He said: “So we are believing in God that in the next five years, we will be contributing assets worth at least $5 billion in terms of real estate in the United States alone. It is a forty acre property and it gives us the opportunity to be able to build massive housing. They would be green meaning we are not connecting to the national grid. Power would be generated through solar and wind.
“Also, the houses are automated and there is no currently in the US any single location that has that size. Our own project alone would be over 200. Other people who are buying land to build what they want would also do over 100. So in total we are looking at over 500 properties on that 40 acre. It would be the largest in the U.S when we are able to complete it.
“We just acquired the land. So now it’s to raise funds. Those who want to buy land can buy land and build their mansion. We have these exclusive for those building $2,000,000 property and above. So they will buy the land and build what they want and then we have off-plan subscribers into our green and smart housing. We have a stand-alone single family and we have apartments. We have a five year building period.”
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The Nigerian born realtor, who is mostly known as an investment coach, philanthropist and public speaker recently stepped down as the group CEO of the company to occupy an advisory role as the Chairman of Gtext Holdings rendering administrative oversight to his business and supporting young entrepreneurs thrive through his foundation, the Stephen Akintayo foundation.
“I decided to step down as the Group CEO because what we need in this phase is institutional funding and that is not really my forte. There was a need to bring someone who is experienced in institutional funding at a global level. Now, it is no longer a Nigerian company. In Dubai we control over hundred houses, we are in the UK, we are in the US and here is somebody who understands that path. We have built a whole vision and even as the Chairman I’m still able to oversee vision and strategy but at least day to day activity, the group CEO now runs that”.
In his vision to drive entrepreneurial growth, the Stephen Akintayo Foundation awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to twenty beneficiaries. For Akintayo, although the beneficiaries of this year’s grant are Nigerians, the goal is to support African businesses all over the world.
“We started with N500, 000 during COVID then it increased to one million. This year, we have increased it to $5,000. We are ending this year with about 20 beneficiaries. Next year we are hoping we will do up to a hundred. We are opening it to people in other African countries. We are taking the five African regions: West, Central, South, North and East Africa. We are also taking Africans in diaspora. We are taking Dubai, US, UK and Canada. Coincidentally, these are markets we also play in.
“We are also adding a documentary series to it. A documentary that hopefully would be on Netflix around the process of selecting winners so that people can learn from it. With the docu-series, it becomes very promotional for their business such that those who won and those who didn’t would have been known.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Rana Ijaz Ahmad, the Group CEO Gtext Holdings, shared that with a zero commercial bank loan history, the firm has been able to float the business while delivering on its promises to investors since inception earning it the goodwill of investors and stakeholders in the real estate industry.
This position, he noted, has attracted investors from across the world to the firm, which is projected to rise as the firm looks to secure a staggering $200,000,000 worth of funds in the first quarter of 2024.
“We are raising capital within the Nigerian capital market. We haven’t gone to the bank so far. We have a zero loan file and I was surprised when I asked the Chairman that we have a zero loan from commercial banks and he said, yes.
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“I see a lot of interest from the investment banks. They have a huge interest in Africa as long as the product is right and the structure is right. Specifically for us, we just secured a $5,000,000 investment in the US. What we are planning is a $200,000,000 worth of investment in the first quarter of 2024,” Ahmad said.
