Excitement as Skyfield enters market with 160 residential, commercial short-let spaces
It was an exciting moment recently when Skyfield Property Development Limited, a private property development firm, entered the dull and highly ‘recessed’ property market with its Skyfield Apartment comprising 160 residential and commercial spaces targeted at clients in search of short-let facilities.
The Apartment, which is the company’s response to the need for a comfortable mini-living quarters for students and the working class Nigerians who wish to live close to their places of work, was developed with financial backing from its parent company, Brent Mortgage Bank Limited, and has been handed over to Mu-Delta Gamma Limited, a facility manager, for maintenance.
Emeka Ekeh, general manager/CEO of Skyfield, disclosed at the handing over an event that the apartment was centrally located for ease of access from various points in Lagos, adding that the apartment was built to ease the challenges of securing affordable short-let accommodation for business men who have businesses on both Lagos island and mainland as well as outside the state and abroad.
The apartment, according to him, was equipped with two dedicated electricity generating sets, a dedicated transformer, a borehole and water processing system, two functional lift systems, a functional security post, ample car parks and waste disposal units. “It also has other complementary services like cleaners and a laundry point.”
Ekeh pointed out that the business relationship between the two companies became necessary because of the need to provide proactive and quality management services to both the occupants of the apartment and the apartment itself through effective and world-class practices.
Mu-Delta Gamma, Ekeh added, would serve as a technical partner whose concern would be to maintain the practical utility of the infrastructure and to ensure it supports the core activity of the company and the group. “After a successful 12 months test-run that commenced December 2015, we are now very confident to formally handover the Apartment to Mu-Delta Gamma Limited as they have shown to be capable to function as facility managers on our behalf,” he said.
Noting that real estate is a capital intensive business, he called on the Federal Government to create ease of securing construction and mortgage finance. He added that government needs to partner with private developers to help actualise the aim of bridging the gap created by housing demand-supply gap in the country.
“Government needs to make the National Housing Fund (NHF) a lot more effective by ensuring shorter turnaround time for any NHF application because people are in serious need of different housing schemes such as low-income, middle-income and others,” he added.
Adewale Ibrahim, managing director of Mu-Delta Gamma, who assured prospective occupants of comfortable stay in the apartment, stated that the company had well trained and dedicated staff to handle the affairs of running the apartment.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE