Mr. Stanley Obumneme Awaogu is the Managing Director of Grace Bounty
Properties Limited, developers of Grace Garden Estate (Phase 1 & 2),
Agbara and MacBerry Estate, Asaba. He got into real estate in 2007
under Realty Point Nig. Ltd. and later Wealteam Properties, both real
estate developers, where the company is doing marvelous things today. In
this interview, he x-rays what is happening in the property sector
generally and what his company is doing in the sector.
Excerpts
Sectoral challenges
The sector is one of the best sectors now in the country that has
actually not had issues of downturn. Since I have been part of this
sector, it has been a rising sector, an encouraging sector, where people
find good trust in putting down their funds to recoup in a matter of
time. There are people’s understanding of the scheme we present and what
it actually means. Aside the tussle we go through from the people we
acquired the land from, you have to create time to make the subscribers
understand the scheme and how it will profit them.
Everybody is having their hands in property and it is becoming very
hard to convince people to actually know that this one is going to be
more profit-oriented in a short time than the others. A lot of property
companies are out there at different locations. We are out there having
this tussle because we are working in one market and want the same
subscribers. But the greatest challenge is the ability to come together
and speak with one voice on things relating to real estate.
Isheri-Osun neighbourhood
The neighbourhood is not an estate, it is a neighbourhood as we call
it. A neighbourhood is just like a little chunk of piece of land that
you buy, about five to 10 acres of land and you sell per plot and owners
build as they want. So we are not actually the sole administrator of
the place. That is what we mean by neighbourhood.
Asaba property market
We are bringing a different thing into the Asaba real estate sector.
Before now, what they had on ground were quarters. That is why you see
the senior staff quarters, the federal housing quarters, this and that.
We are bringing a different ball game. And what is the ball game here?
In the estate, we are running it in three dimensional parts. In the
layout, we have zones for the high dense parts, zones for the middle
dense and low. In such way, we will be able to accommodate everyone who
wants to invest within that environment because Asaba now is becoming
much more stable in terms of peace and its culture is becoming so
welcoming to visitors that every investment is now going there. So, to
actually create an attraction to that MacBerry Estate, what we decided
to do is divide the estate such that it can be affordable to everyone
who wishes to own a plot in Asaba in MacBerry Estate. We are bringing
installment payment over a long period of time into the Asaba property
market, which before now was almost non-existent and offering everyone
the opportunity to own a piece of property.
Right now, we have done bulldozing of the site and we will commence
perimeter fencing and building of the entrance gate soon. We are looking
at doing these at the shortest time possible so that the town planner
can go in for marking out of the site.
The plots of land would be developed by individual subscribers at
N700,000 per plot for the dense area and payable over 20 months. The
middle dense is N600,000 per plot and the lower dense is N350,000 per
plot. In the higher dense, the measurement is 80 feet by 100. The middle
dense is 60 by 100 and the lower dense is 30 by 100. The subscription
rate is encouraging. It is like a lot of people want to go down to Asaba
now. We have sold approximately 30 per cent of the plots since we
started selling this September and we have about 45 acres of land to
sell. It is located at Ogwashi-Ukwu.
Investors’ attraction
This estate is five minutes away from the metro city of Asaba
(Okpanam), one minute drive from the Onitsha/Asaba Express, three
minutes drive from the Asaba International Airport, Iron Steel Company,
Asaba, Paint Company, Otulu Secondary School and Delta State Polytechnic
and an upcoming private university. Perimeter fence, the gate, CCTV,
randomly sited bore holes to enable easy water supply in the estates.
Block industry so that every investor can have easy access to good
blocks. We are also putting a police post in the estate for the security
of the people. There will also be parks for relaxation as well as an
events place.
Delivery
We are looking at April 2015. We would have stopped selling and done
allocation but as soon as we are done with bulldozing work on the site,
we shall put up our own structures, which would be sold. In Asaba, we
are looking at developing 50 units of three bedroom bungalows that will
be spread across.
Agbara project
We have been able to show that to a very large extent. We did
allocation at the phase one of Grace Garden Estate three weeks ago and
it is ready for people to commence building and we are also there
working and building on the site. We took note of some of these
shortfalls from developers when we came into the sector and decided that
our priorities would be one at a time so we won’t keep our subscribers
in suspense. That is what we did when we took up Agbara in September
2013 and within 11 months, we have been able to get done with what we
are doing there and allocated to individuals so whoever is ready to
build can start.
Building materials
In the raging controversy of whether this or that cement is the real
thing, we have not witnessed any kind of fake cement in the course of
our property development. I have not because we go directly to buy from
the depot, the quantity we want to use and so far it has always been
okay and in the same way we implore our subscribers and in order to
avoid such, we buy on their behalf. We normally use PureCem, the 32.5
and 3xD and it has served us well. We really have not been able to
factor them differently to check, but what we look at is the strength of
the work when we use it. Once we are able to get the quality we want,
that is our priority.
Alternative to cement
I think individual choices differ but in our Estates’ Covenant, we
have been able to say this is exactly what we want. Not that the
alternative materials in buildings are inferior, rather, we just decided
to choose what we want. We have alternatives already. We have the
pre-fabricated buildings other than the container. But it is all about
taste. If one is in love with that, why not? It is what one is
comfortable with. For cost effectiveness, I wouldn’t say cement because
that depends on one, the structure you are setting in place and how you
want to put the interior. If I am running a simple bungalow and you are
running a complex bungalow with a prefab, it could amount to the same
amount.
Like I said, we are not discouraging that idea but sometimes, you
have to be unique in a place. Maybe in our next estate, we have to pull a
uniqueness in some quarters and say, okay, this is what we want. They
are all beautiful but we can’t mix them together because they might not
give us the brand we want to see. But remember, alternative building is
something you have to allow people buy into as time goes on.
Federal Government housing
I don’t see that affecting the private sector, rather, it complements
it. I understand that the material cost for them might be lower, but
coming into the sector, they are not coming into the sector with a
mindset of taking out the private sector, which they also encourage, but
I think they are coming to supplement our efforts and give us the
conviction that we are on the right track.
Cost of building
In Economics, there are also such contingencies where the higher the
supply, the higher the price. I think we are facing that right now.
Government can only do more to encourage private developers. They should
be able to look into some of the stakeholders that are handling
building materials from the iron to cement, etc. They should be able to
look at that sector and find ways to reduce their costs. With that, the
individual developers will be more encouraged to stand out and be
upright in delivering the projects they kick off.
Land Use Act
I have listened to one or two talks on that and the government is
aware that the private sector operators are on ground. They are also
trying to see other ways they can help the private sector. So I wouldn’t
see them saying no to us. The private sector has been able to do a lot
and touch zones that literally the government wouldn’t have reached. But
the private sector has been able to drag the attention of government to
those places, so it should be a collaborative effort between the two.
Other states
We have received calls from individuals in Anambra, Awka precisely.
They want us to come and do the same thing and help draw investment to
their state. But we focus on one project at a time so once we are done
in Asaba, we shall look to Anambra.
No comments:
Post a Comment