Dollar Construction has done it again. It has begun work on
a new estate in Epe, Lagos. Dollar Construction is one of the fastest growing
real estate companies in Nigeria. Within so short a time, the company has grown
to become a big real estate firm with new housing projects springing up all
over the company.
Citypeople can authoritatively tell you that the company has
started site clearing at the Epe Project. Already, Dollar is making waves in
Ibadan and Abuja. And it is well known abroad among Nigerians in the diaspora.
No wonder the company was honoured recently at the
Citypeople Real estate awards in Lagos, for its remarkable and astounding
performance in the real estate sector.
Below is Citypeople magazine's recent interview with the
MD/CEO of Dollar Construction, Engr. Idowu Lamidi. He spoke to Citypeople
Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE.
We have noticed that many celebrities in Ibadan have taken
interest in your housing projects. Why is this so?
It's not only in Ibadan.They are coming from different parts
of the country. Like I said in a meeting recently, Ibadan is a strategic city.
It's a beautiful place with history and people that are so accommodating.
Before we came to Ibadan, we had various consultations and
picked four cities that are strategic in the Southwest. Interestingly Ibadan is
the choice of everyone. This is a city an ancient cultural history, political
history and also in terms of development and facilities, Ibadan has an
advantage with the Cocoa House, Premier Hotel, IITA, Bowers Tower and other
notable scenery around the city.
And as you know, people come from everywhere to live in Ibadan;
the people here are so welcoming.
So these are things
we at Dollar Construction considered before we decided to site our new project
here.
Another reason why the people, I won't want to call them
celebrities, i mean the people that visit here and who have shown interest are
mostly politicians and business people. These are people I mostly read about in
the news and I've never met. But what I like is the satisfactory look on their
faces every time they come around and see what we are doing.
The logic is simple, these are people who have travelled far
and wide, they've been to different parts of the world and also toured the
country and they know they've not seen something like this in this part of our
country.
Lagos is becoming over-populated, Abuja is a free city, so
people that understand Real Estate know Ibadan to be the next Dubai and they
are wise to invest.
We have also moved into Lagos. We have started work in Epe.
Tell us about the ongoing projects in Ibadan, what are the
shapes and sizes?
In total, it's 105 units of houses located at Idi-Ishin,
Jericho area of Ibadan. We have the 3-bedroom luxurious duplex; we have the
4-bedroom luxurious duplex and also the 5-bedroom en-suite duplex. Some of
these houses have their private swimming pool, cinema and other luxury items
and equipment in modern architecture.
They are carefully designed by our team of seasoned
architects. These are designs you cannot find anywhere.
Another interesting feature of our buildings is the sizes.
The rooms are usually (the feet) in size, while the living rooms are (quote the
size). We played with a lot of space and I find it amusing when people come and
they were like 'wow! Is this the size of a bedroom?’ These are what you can't
get in Lagos or somewhere else, so I consider that as a huge advantage.
Are Ibadan elites ready to buy houses like those in Lagos
and Abuja?
The main factor you need to consider when you ask that
question is one, Are there still choice locations in Lagos and Abuja anymore?
What you see is people digging deeper and giving strange names to dignify where
they live.
Our project in Ibadan is in a central location, you can
access our estate from different parts of the city.
we are not outside Ibadan, we are within the city. You can't
have beautiful structures like this in remote areas. Who doesn't want to live
in Ibadan?
To be honest with you, when you go round Ibadan and discover
the prices of properties and rents, you would see a slight difference. Ibadan
is the new deal. People would tell you they love the city, it's peaceful. Who
doesn't want to live where it's peaceful? We just need to work on the
facilities and take the city to where it should be. Do you know the story of
Magodo in Lagos? When they first started selling the lands, people were
laughing. Now they are buying even the water-locked part of the area.
What are the new incentives you have introduced to attract
new customers?
We don't plan incentives. We are not land sellers that will
tell you 'buy this land and get a ram'. No! Real Estate is a serious business.
Our only incentives to attract people are the facilities we have. We are
sourcing our own electricity by building a dam inside the estate. We are also
providing our own water, roads, security and a lot of other recreational facilities;
these are what we call incentives. We know the value of our projects and we
know what it yields periodically. This is an investment. A house you buy for a
million naira today must sell for 5 million in about two years. That's what
Real Estate is all about; it's a big business and not just selling of lands and
properties at Moniya.
What makes Dollar Construction different from other real
estate companies?
What sets us apart is the quality of work we render to our
clients, we don't deviate from the core standard of engineering construction
and we do not compromise standard. We abide and follow the tenets of
construction as well as the rules and regulations. Again our staffs are well
trained and certified. They can work in all departments of the company, they
can function in construction, marketing, adverts, sales because they are wholly
trained and understand the dream of the company.
Again at Dollar Construction there is no employer/employee
structure. You won't know the security from the Director, we all work at the site
and we enjoy doing that and we joke about it.
How can interested customers buy and benefit from your
projects?
The first step is to go to our website and fill a form; from there we pick it up and guide them through the other stages. Thanks
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