Real estate development firm, Brains and Hammers Limited, says it is working with the cooperative society  of major International Oil Companies, particularly Shell and ExxonMobil to provide 117 housing units across three hectares of land in Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The property, named CoopEast Resort Estate, is expected to be fully built and ready for occupation in two years, starting with a ground breaking event which took place on Saturday.

The Director of Sales, Brains and Hammers, Mr Omo Osobase, said it would be the first time the company would be working with a cooperative.

He said, “It is one of the plausible ways to solve or reduce the 18 million housing deficit in Nigeria. That is why we have decided to work in tandem with the vision of the cooperative to provide affordable and decent housing for their members.

“It is a win-win for all the parties involved in this transaction – the cooperative, the cooperators and us. We are very open to working with cooperatives and members of the public generally. It is a partnership that is very promising and we want to use this medium to reach other cooperatives. We are very hopeful that this will lead to a new era of advancement in housing infrastructure across Nigeria.”

Osobase explained that the housing estate would be made of four types of accommodation such as three-bedroom ensuite with boys quarters; four-bedroom ensuite with boys quarters and four-bedroom ensuite semi-detached.

“The last category is nicknamed ‘the King’s House’, featuring five bedrooms, a study, penthouse, boys quarters and a guest house,” he said.

The Chairman, Brains and Hammers, Mr Adebola Sheidu, said, the management was happy to have people repose the kind of trust they had in banks in the company.

According to him, the company has a portfolio of over 2,000 completed residential homes across Nigeria and ongoing work in over 3,000 more.

The President, Shell Cooperative, Chief Hyginus Onuegbu, said the project had been oversubscribed and would cost N7.8bn in its phase 1, while phase 2 would bring the total cost of the project to N15bn.

He indicated that it was the first signature project for the cooperative in partnership with ExxonMobil, while the cooperative would be extending its total investment portfolio in real estate in Lagos within the last five years to N50bn.

He said the cooperatives wanted to be part of the Lagos economic growth story.

The President, ExxonMobil Cooperative Multipurpose Society, Mr Olusoga Sofolahan, said there was the need to create value for money to members, hence the investment.

Source: punchng