The Address Homes: Changing the face of luxury homes in Nigeria

‘There’s no place like home,’ or ‘Home is where the heart is.’ These popular sayings affirm the truth that a home is a place that is always desirable. It exists in the mind’s eye as much as in a particular physical location. Home, in essence, is shelter, providing an escape from the intrusions of the busy world.

Interestingly, in Nigeria, most cities are fast becoming homes to a huge number of individuals due to the rural-urban influx of people, as well the rapid-growing population, especially, the working class; and of course rapid urbanization, among other factors.

However, much thought about, in seeking for homes, regardless of economic conditions of the nation and the citizens, researches have shown that there are many who are not just complacent with ‘any kind of home’. This category of patrons or home-seekers wants more than just four walls and a parking lot. Simply put, they desire to live in the premium or what many call luxury homes, rather than ‘normal’ homes.

For these home buyers, specifically, the affluent, the desire for luxury homes that provide all the modern comforts cannot be overemphasized. The homes, especially in the urban areas, afford the owner to provide his/her family quality habitat with security, health, and privacy, all guaranteed.

Notably, however, affording a luxury home does not come cheap. With the poor state of the economy, galloping inflation and falling values of the naira and associated effects on the fortune of the nation, prices of luxury properties have climbed steadily in the luxury markets over the years.

While many believe that affording a luxury home cannot be achieved in their lifetime, in battling the housing deficit in the country, a real estate development firm, the Address Homes, has reiterated its resolve toward tackling Nigeria’s housing deficit by providing affordable homes that meet the benchmark of modern real estate development.

Recently, the firm, which has stamped its authority in the luxury property market within the shortest time of coming into the real estate industry through the successful completion of about 54 units of mid-luxury detached and semi-detached properties in Osapa London, 31 units of luxury homes at Ilasan, opposite Ikate, in Lekki, Lagos, took some journalists on a media tour of some of its completed projects as well as the two newly launched housing schemes christened Luxuria and Dan and Dan by Address Homes in Ikoyi and Banana Island.

Speaking during the media tour with the journalists from top media houses in Nigeria, the chairman and founder of The Address Homes, Dr Bisi Onasanya, stated: “In our determination in providing inspiring, regal, and well-built maisonette housing schemes in the country, the topnotch real estate company dedicated to the attainment, development, and management of bespoke deluxe contemporary homes, has added two new maisonette housing schemes into the market. These maisonette homes are definitely like no other, and could only have been delivered by The Address Homes, which prides itself as an “address of distinction”, where standards, innovation, newness and fresh perspectives thrive.

According to Onasanya, the fundamental goal of the firm was to provide smart homes which could boast of the basic amenities that were reflective of global best property development practices.

He said: “We didn’t venture into The Address Homes to make money, even though every business is set out to make money. The real intention, for me, is to allow us to do something different from the way previous participants and players in real estate have done.

“We believe there is a need to inject some integrity into the real estate business. We also believe at times that quality was a bit deficient and there is a need to do things mostly to some level of international standards, irrespective of where you are. We wanted to come into the industry and put up structures that we can call homes, not houses. These are homes that will compete with the best that you can see outside of the country, and yet without making you break the bank in terms of being able to pay or affordability. We see people trying to relocate from abroad – Canada, the United States of America (US) and Europe. There is a minimum standard of living they have been used to. They like to enter a home and there are basic things they look to see, the environment they also like to see. We found that these are missing to some extent. We wanted a situation in which you live in the Address Homes and you are proud because of the comfortability we offer. That is what we believe in. That’s what we have been able to do. Have we done everything? We’ve done our best, but we still believe that we’ll keep improving”.

The chairman noted that The Address Homes characteristically offered flexible payment plans to enable home buyers spread payments at their own convenience.

“We are very competitive in terms of pricing, but more importantly, we are very flexible in our payment structure. We allow people to dictate to us within a particular time frame how they want to structure their payments during construction.”

“Even at that, we’ve had instances where we completed the project, but people had difficulty making the final payment. They make a special request for us to allow them to move into the property without completing payment, and yet we still oblige them.”

“All these have endeared us to the few people who have had the opportunity to interact with us and to enjoy the services that we offer. So, when I see those things, they make me feel proud that what we set out to achieve, we are on course.”

“In doing that also, we have also succeeded in contributing to the housing deficit. Right now, we play in the medium market sector essentially, and today we have a total of, both ongoing and completed, over 250 units of houses and still counting. I have mentioned why we are different. We don’t make noise and we don’t tell you to break the bank to access our services. For every single estate that we have built, we make sure that we do not just hand over the keys to you, we follow you and make sure we provide facilities management to make living in those estates very convenient and comfortable for you. We also provided some guarantees of a minimum of five to 10 years on the structure so that if anything happens to the windows and doors, we take responsibility. We provide you with 24 hours electricity, CCTV, security, water and others.”

 Speaking further, Onasanya noted that all of the firm’s construction projects were subjected to periodic integrity tests by the Lagos State Government to ensure compliance to set standards and also ensure standards for home buyers.

 “We do not embark on any construction with a formal building plan approval from the Lagos State Government. At every stage, the structural engineer goes to the site to certify every stage before they can do any concrete work. After the structural engineer has done that, Lagos State Government, that is LASBCA, will check what has been done and sign off on it before we go on, and we use this process on all our projects.”

 Named ‘Luxuria’ and ‘Dan & Dan’ by The Address Homes, the two brands, on completion, are expected to deliver cosy homes that combine exquisite design with high-level finishes within Ikoyi, Lagos. The Luxuria which sits on a land area measuring approximately 4890SQM and made up of Two Towers, is a development made up of 58 units in total, out of which close to 50 are typical maisonettes.

According to the management, the construction of the two deluxe contemporary homes, which commenced in 2021, is expected to be completed in 2023. Upon completion, the project will comprise 18 luxury houses, ranging from five-bedroom fully detached houses to five-bedroom semi-detached houses and four-bedroom terrace houses.

Shedding more light on the Luxuria features, the Address Homes boss noted: “When I say maisonettes, there is a reason why we do things differently. First and foremost, we found out that people live in flats. Developers built flats but we also found out that when you live in flats, some elements of privacy are denied – you come out of your bedroom, enter your sitting room. People who live abroad are used to multi-level structures. We chose to do things differently. I was having a discussion with an architect and he said what he has observed in this environment is that people would build blocks of flats and then put them on top of the flats’ penthouses. And I said it is those penthouses, which are very few in number, that are sold first. People are ready to pay any amount of money for the services. Why can’t we do a project where every single apartment looks like a penthouse? If you go to Luxuria, you will see the massive space that we have on two levels.  It comes with two kitchens, which means that madam has a reserved house while allowing the chef to use the other area; two living rooms, a bar area, a swimming pool, etc.”

For Dan & Dan Apartments, located on Banana Island road, it comprises 27 units of fully-serviced apartments; three penthouses, 12 maisonettes and 12 terrace houses.

Designed by award-winning architect, Play in Architecture Limited, nestled in the heart of Ikoyi, Dan & Dan is surrounded by city landmarks, cultural institutions and dozens of trendy dining and shopping options with easy and secured access to roads and waterways.

Conspicuously raising the standard, Dan & Dan is introducing distinctive, crafted details that complement modern materials and reinvent Banana Island’s architectural landscape. The features include 3 nos penthouses, 12 nos maisonette, and 12 nos terrace houses.

Upon completion, the estate will have the following features: a swimming pool, 24-hour power, security personnel, CCTV, a best-in-class Kitchen, gym; and many more.