In an ambitious and resilient manner, Ilubirin, a new waterfront development on Lagos Island, has brought excitement into the property market, offering affordable luxury that brightens homeownership and investment prospects in the new year.
The expansive development that sits on a nine-hectare expanding land is mixed use, meaning that it is going to have multiple components of developments that promise to deliver, in its first phase, 190 units of apartments comprising one, two, and three bedrooms across nine blocks.
Ilubirin’s location is quite strategic and instructive as it allows for both accessibility and flexibility of movement. The location allows for efficient connection to both Yaba and Surulere on the mainland and also to Ikoyi and Victoria Island.
The development which the promoters refer to as ‘District’ can be accessed through Adeniji Adele Road on Lagos Island and Third Mainland Bridge when its Northern Entrance is completed.
The district is being developed by Ilubirin Foreshore Projects Limited with Lagos State government as an investor-partner. The main contractor on the project is Arbico. Other project partners are SAOTA and ECAD as architects while GAPP is the urban designer.
This district is Lagos city’s first affordable mixed development, according to Loretto Lekema-Okoro, the sales and marketing channels manager for Ilubirin, who revealed that central to the vision of Ilubirin is creating a truly vibrant and inclusive community.
“What we are creating here is wonderful world of shops and homes, concerts and dance, restaurants and cafes, places to work, learn and play. Stunningly landscaped with garden, wetlands and lagoon-side promenades, this engaging and dynamic new community will set new standards for placemaking and urban living in Africa,” the marketing manager assured prospective buyers and investors.
Lekema-Okoro, who spoke during a media tour of the facility conducted on the sideline of Open-house Block-party held to showcase what was on offer at the district, listed some of the amenities put in place to make the district a truly luxury and mixed development, including affordable luxury apartments , hotel, restaurants and cafes, as well as shopping and markets.
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Others are offices and business spaces, performance and event spaces, parks, wetlands and lagoonside broadwalks, peir and moorings, school and medical centre, world class ambulatory care centre, and sports and leisure facilities.
Touring one of the blocks, which comprises studio, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments on four floors including the ground floor, confirmed to our correspondent that the district was truly luxurious.
The most striking feature of each home unit is space. Whether one is talking about the bedrooms, living rooms, toilets and baths, lobbies/lounges, or the kitchens which are fully fitted, the story is the same generous spaces which the developer has created for residents to play with.
Each apartment enjoys modern architecture and designs as reflected in wall and floor tiles, stainless wall papers in some cases, double glazed and noise-proof glass windows which run from ceiling to floor in some cases. There are also generous sit-out spaces, giving scenic views of the lagoon and lush green surroundings.
At some point and for some reasons, the development of Ilubirin was stalled, leading to a refund of those who had subscribed to the project, but Lekema-Okoro is assuring prospective subscribers, buyers and investors like, that the project is now up and running and there would no more delays in timelines.
In spite of the earlier challenges, she said, all the project partners are still very much around. “It’s still Arbico; it’s still ECAD who helped with designing and all of that. That means the main developer and the partners are still inclusive.
Who got added in is another funding partner, which is a real estate fund that came in to ensure that we have enough money to be able to go through each stage of the project. Now, this fund is targeted at real estate which means that they understand the challenges,” she explained.
As for the affordability of the different apartments, the marketing manager said, “affordability is relative, considering who it is that we’re targeting, we are quite affordable; the price is favourable based on that target market.”
In addition to this, she said, they offer flexible payment plan which allows buyers to make initial deposit and pay up the balance within six-12 months. They are also in partnership with Prudential Mortgage Bank which provides mortgage facility for those who would like to take that route to buy their homes.
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