Monday July 25, 2011, Homes & Property, page 31
By Chinedum Uwaegbulam, Assistant Housing & Environment Editor

The Churchgate Group has flagged-off World Trade Centre project, a scheme that would redefine the Abuja skyline, sets to emerge as the premier address for residential, commercial and office space. The project is rising from the ashes of the former Bakassi market in Central Business Area and the first phase will be delivered by the year 2013.

The real estate sector perched on the brink of history recently, when investors launched an ambitious property development scheme geared towards realising a long time dream of establishing a World Trade Centre (WTC) in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Projected by the promoters, First Continental Properties Limited, a subsidiary Churchgate Group to cost N156 billion, the development which will feature the iconic 37 storey World Trade Centre towers is a multi-use complex, comprising luxury high rise office towers, luxury apartments, conference facilities, capital city shopping mall and entertainment facilities. The project is being financed with private funds as well as local and foreign finance institutions backing.

The site sits on 6,102 hectares of land along Constitution Avenue in the Central Business Area that is strategically positioned at the heart of the city of Abuja leading directly into the city from the Airport. It is adjacent to the main Railway Station as well as the Central Business Transport Terminal. A ring road is also being constructed around the site giving it unrivaled access into centre of the city.
Historically, the World Trade Centre project site used to be known as Bakassi Market, an illegal market that was removed in 2003 by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). The site was then handed over to the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL) to develop as a befitting world-class shopping mall.

Already, the project divided into three phases has commenced, with Churchgate Construction Company Limited leading the construction team as the main contractor. Other consultants are Woods Bagot Limited (concept architect), Edifice Consultants PVT. Limited (executive architect), WSP Consultants (Structural Consultant and MEP Consultant), while Messrs Hancock Ogundiya & Partners are the Local MEP & C&S Consultant and Space Designers Limited (Local Architectural Consultant).

Giving an insight to the project, the Group Managing Director of The Churchgate Group, Mr. Vinay Mahtani, revealed that the project would consist of luxury offices, serviced apartments, hotel, and the 40,000 sq metres Capital City Mall. Other components are a leisure centre, cinema and convention facility. He disclosed that The Churchgate Group was building the project expeditiously with the aim of completing the first phase by the year 2013. He pointed out that The Churchgate Group believed that Abuja, being the federal capital and a frontline city in Africa had been in dire need of a landmark project such as that.

Mahtani hinted that the World Trade Centre real estate initiatives in Abuja would rank among the topmost developments around the globe both in terms of scale and quality. He also said that The Churchgate Group already had a track record for developing quality high rise buildings and the Abuja World Trade Centre development would not be an exception. “Already the project has provided job opportunity for about 600 inhabitants of Abuja and the satellite towns with the figure expected to rise to 1500 as work progresses,” Mahtani added.
“The building site for the proposed World Trade Centre Abuja is set to emerge as the premier address for residential, commercial and office space in Nigeria,” claims Ibukun Adeogun, Churchgate’s chief marketing manager, WTC Project.

According to Adeogun: “The World Trade Centre master plan provides for areas of public gatherings, services and amenities unlike anything Nigeria has ever experienced and will rank amongst the landmark destinations of the world. The site is located along the main gateway into the Central Business District. With 40,000 square metres of shopping centre on two levels, a branded hotel, twin tower office space for the blue chip companies of the world and a real-estate component, the World Trade Centre in Abuja has something for everyone,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Federal Capital City, Senator Bala Mohammed who inspected the WTC project site under construction recently, commended the Churchgate Group for its initiative in bringing the World Trade Centre real estate brand to Abuja.
The minister who was accompanied on the visit by FCT Minister of State, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide and the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Abiodun Olurunfemi also congratulated Churchgate for securing the rights to the World Trade Centre brand for real estate development in Abuja. He remarked that the project was an example of public-private-partnership initiative, which the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan supported.

Mohammed disclosed that the project would be used as a model to implement some upcoming private partnership project in the FCT including the Central Area Boulevard, the Central Park and Botanical Gardens as well as the Area 10 mixed development project.
The minister stated that owing to the high profile and global scope of the World Trade Centre project, the Federal Capital Territory Authority had requested the Minister of Foreign Affairs to process diplomatic status for the development.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Investment Company Limited, Dr. Abdu Muktar, two previous attempts to select development partners were unsuccessful before the selection of First Continental Properties Limited, a subsidiary of Churchgate Investment Company Limited in 2009 through a competitive, transparent process, leading to a development-lease agreement with AICL. The scope of the project was later expanded to a mega-multi-use complex, which would be bustling throughout the day and night.

By Oscarline Onwuemenyi

ABUJA – The Minister of Federal Capital Territory Administration, Sen. Bala Mohammed has unveiled plans by the administration to make the World Trade Centre Abuja, one of the best real estate landmarks in the world.

He told journalists at an inspection visit to the site of the project on Constitution Avenue, Central Business District, Abuja, that President Goodluck Jonathan will soon flag-off the construction of the over $1 billion (N150 billion) World Trade Centre Abuja.

The project to be constructed on 6.103 hectares of land in the Central Business Area is strategically positioned at the heart of the city on Constitution Avenue, leading directly into the city from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, and adjacent to the main Railway station as well as the Central Business Terminal in Abuja.

The Minister explained that the project, which was reviewed from its original 12 floors to 37 floors, would be executed in four phases. The first phase comprising a 22-floor Commercial Tower, a 22-floor

Serviced Apartment Tower and a 300,000-40 sq. meter Retail Mail is billed for completion in June 2013.
According to Mohammed, “The building site for the proposed World Trade Centre Abuja is set to emerge as the premier address for residential, commercial, and office space in Nigeria.

“The Centre’s master-plan provides for areas of public gatherings, services and amenities unlike anything Nigeria has ever experienced, and will rank amongst the landmark destinations of the world.

The Minister explained that the World Trade Centre would raise the international profile of the FCT through trade missions, seminars, international business certification programme, and courses on local and global business issues.
“A WTC creates a gateway to the world by providing collectively the tools and insights to fostering international trade through shared experience. Suffice it to say that the brand name alone would greatly increase the number of global business visitors to the Federal Capital Territory,” he stated.

Group Managing Director, Churchgate Group, Mr. Vinay Mahtani, said the vision of his company is to “provide Abuja with a destination where people can live, work and play; on the one hand a destination that caters for both the international and Nigerian blue-chip companies as well as the emerging small and medium sized enterprises.”

Mahtani pointed out that the development will compete amongst the topmost developments around the globe – both in terms of scale and quality, adding that Abuja, being the capital of Nigeria and a frontline capital city in Africa has been in need of such a landmark project.
According to him, “The project, in its entirety, will consist of the 40,000 sq. meter Capital Mall that will house an array of shops, boutiques, and restaurants as well as recreational facilities such as a cinema and bowling alley.

“Other components will include luxury offices, serviced apartments, a hotel and leisure center and convention facility.”
He added that a ring road is to be constructed around the site, giving it unrivalled access. “And with the local and national railway under construction just a stone’s throw away, the World Trade Centre Abuja will become a major hub within the Federal Capital Territory.”
He added, “The project will be built expeditiously by the Churchgate Construction Company, which has already provided employment to over 600 inhabitants of Abuja and the satellite towns, and this number will rise to over 1500 as the development progresses.”

The World Trade Centre Abuja is a Public-Private Partnership between First Continental Properties Limited, a subsidiary of Churchgate Investments Limited, and the Abuja Investments Company Limited, a parastatal of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA.

Churchgate has been a driving force of corporate activity in Nigeria for over 40 years; “the group has always reflected the spirit of the times” says Vinay Mahtani, Churchgate’s group Managing director. he adds; “and we are proud that the WTC Abuja will represent a true celebration of Nigeria’s economic progress”.

Churchgate has already developed and currently operates Churchgate Towers l & 2 on Victoria Island as well as the Churchgate Plaza in Abuja. The existing tenants that enjoy these luxury office spaces are amongst the Fortune 500 companies of the world. A Churchgate Tower 3 is in the planning stages for Victoria Island adjacent to its two sister towers.

Churchgate has also acquired a historical landsite on Victoria Island on which it intends on developing The Grand Hyatt Hotel and Residences. This 5 star hotel will be poised as one of the most important landmarks in Lagos. This former site of the Australian embassy is located adjacent to major roadways and the hotel will accommodate 400 upscale suites and 149 ultra luxurious residences; the residences will be grand in size and the proud owners will benefit from many of the hotel amenities and services that The Grand Hyatt will offer.

“The proposed building site for the World Trade Center on Constitution Avenue will be the premier address in Nigeria for retail, office space and residential” claims David Belinko, who is Churchgate’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The master plan provides for areas of public gathering, services and amenities unlike anything Nigeria has ever experienced and will rank amongst the most desirable locations to live and work on the continent”.

The site boasts of a sense of arrival with magnificent landscaping; the landscape architects on the project took full advantage of the topography to create a 100% secure environment.

The first WTC Residence by Churchgate will comprise of only 133 residential units which should sell out very quickly due to their unique nature, the present scarcity of upscale residences and of course their unbeatable location.

The World Trade Center in Abuja will integrate superbly with the city and the rest of the country. Both local and national train stations are currently under construction are adjacent to the WTC site.

With the proposed 40,000 Sq. Meters of shopping in the new Capital Mall, a branded hotel, twin tower office space for the corporations of the world, and a real-estate component, the World Trade Center in Abuja has something for everyone and will surely satisfy the commercial and lifestyle needs of its future occupants and clientele.

BY ALEX PERRY
TIME June 6, 2011

To see a scale model of Eko Atlantic is to assume you’re looking at Dubai. An artificial island, built just offshore out of sand dredged from the ocean, Eko Atlantic will be 4-3 miles wide, extend about L2 miles out to sea, house 250,000 residents and include offices for 150,000 commuters. There will be giant malls, three marinas, trams, the island’s own power station and a sail-shaped, 55-story skyscraper that will be the new headquarters for a bank. But this is not Oubai, nor is it Singapore or even Brazil. This is Lagos, Nigeria. Eko Atlantic, says David Frame, managing director of the developer, South Energyx Nigeria, is “the new face of Africa,” the centerpiece of a redevelopment plan whose ambition is simple and astonishing: take one of the world’s worst cities and make it one of the best. Says Onno Ruhl, country headforthe World Bank: “It’s an amazing thing. Not least because it actually looks like it will happen.”

It would be hard to pick a tougher city to make overthan Lagos. The place is normally known as a living, breathing definition of anarchy. With IO million to I8 million inhabitants-no one is quite sure- it is the Business 4 biggest city on the world’s poorest continent. It is Lagos’ peculiar blight that in a region with space to spare, it managed to run out of it. It is a megamecca for migrants and a place that has lost almost two-thirds of a mile of coastline to erosion since the I960s. Overcrowding has spawned legendary traffic. sky-high unemployment, poor housing, crime and disease. All that has been exacerbated by poor government. For
30 years from the late I970s, city authorities built almost no new infrastructure,leaving Lagos with precious little running water, electricity, employment or law and order. By the time Babatunde Fashola was elected governor in 2007. Lagos was a place, he says. “of very evident despair.”

Fashola is not your usual politician. Rather than barge his way across town, sirens blaring. he chooses to endure Lagos’ traffic with his fellow citizens. Fashola also reads economic theory for fun. On his bedside table are books by development economists like Hernandode Soto of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILO) in Lima, who argues that the poor may lack money as individuals but together, in their tens of millions, represent an untapped resource. The new governor agreed with that. “In everything I saw, I saw opportunity. If there is a bad road, it means we need an engineer and laborers. architects, valuers, land merchants, banks, merchandisers, suppliers of iron rods and cement, and food courts.”

Fashola began an overhaul of Lagos’ infrastructure, building expressways, stringing streetlights along the main highways, integrating road with rail, air and even water-and, by the by, cutting traffic and crime, creating tens of thousands of jobs and even increasing to 70% the proportion of state income raised locally from Lagosians delighted by the city’s transformation. lagos’ lack of space was another opportunity. Scarcity of anything increases its value. That insight led to Eko Atlantic. which, because of the profits to be made from its real estate, will be entirely privately financed.

The most ambitious part of Fashola’s plan is still unfolding. De Soto and the lID have programs in 30 countries to make formal the informal economy- the unregulated and unmapped businesses in which most of the developing world earns a living- so governments can regulate, tax and promote it. In Lagos, de Soto discovered the mother of all infonnal economies: 93.7% of the city’s businesses, with assets worth a collective $50 billion, functioned outside the law, handily beating foreign aid to Nigeria ($II.4 billion) and foreign investment there ($5.4 billion). If that economy could be channeled, it would deliver an unprecedented boost to the city’s prosperity. Its discovery also indicated there was so much about his city that Fashola didn’t know or control that many of his refonns would likely misfire.

How to get Lagosians into the system? Property rights, said de Soto. Because of the chaotic way the city had grown, most land and buildings there were untitled, making them difficult to buy, sell or borrow against. But ifFashola were to set clear property rights, that massive asset could be tapped. For the past 18 months, Fashola has dispatched teams of surveyors across Lagos to determine who owns what. Once they finish, millions of Lagos’ citizens will have a stake- legal and enforceable in their city’s future. “[What we did] was suggest that things can be changed, no matter how bad they are,” says Fashola. “We restored hope. We restored belief.”