Building for buyers to live, work, play, innovate

Authorities of 1004 Estates Limited have perfected plans to build a mini-estate and a shopping mall where it expects prospective buyers/residents to live, work, play and innovate.

According to the authorities, the new estate, to be known as 1004 Shopping Mall and Residences, will be located within the precinct of 1004 Flats in Victoria Island, Lagos.

“The 50-unit development is aimed to provide luxury residences and also to create an environment where residents would innovatively live, work and play,” Samuel Ukpong, 1004 Estates’ managing director, told BusinessDay.

The shopping mall, he added, “is our strategy to provide services inside the estate which has 1,000 flats with an average of four occupants per flat, giving us about 4,000 residents. These people have so many things they need such as food, barbing salon, hairdressing salon, grocery, bar, pharmacy, sports lounge, restaurant, confectionery, travel agency, etc.”

He explained that the shopping mall and residences would cater for high-end corporate individuals, adding that the mall would provide 35 shop spaces on two levels, while there will be 50 luxury apartments on eight floors.

On the ground floor of this new estate are parking spaces and utility, while the next two floors are reserved for shopping and commercial activities – such as three banking halls, modern food court, three speciality restaurants, supermarkets for pharmaceuticals, dry cleaning, as well as commercial shops and offices.

Ukpong disclosed that they had already obtained building approval from the Lagos State government, adding that two financial institutions had expressed interest in solely financing the development.

Facilities planned for the mini-estate include swimming pool dedicated to the building, escalators and a good lift in the shopping, a bar/lounge and gym.

Ukpong noted that “1004 as a community has enormous potential and commercial viability,” adding that “in this community, you find out that people need some commercial services.

“We have run the estate all these years without these services and have seen that residents leave the estate for all their needs; so, there is need for all these things in this community where about 5,000 people within the estate and its environs will shop,” he said.

The new estate promises two and three-bedroom luxury apartments that will be different from 1004 Flats in terms of concept and the degree of luxury that will be available, he said further.

“We are trying to showcase the ability of the company (1004 Estates Limited) to deliver high-end luxury properties right in the middle of Victoria Island,” he said.

STORIES BY CHUKA UROKO