CRL flags off construction work on $300m Lekki smart city scheme
Construction activities have commenced on the first eco-friendly smart business city in Africa, on 200- hectare land reclamation aimed at, expanding the Ikate kingdom.
The $300 million Imperial International Business City (IIBC) scheme is being promoted by the Elegushi Royal Family and a private developer, Channeldrill Resources Limited (CRL).
Business Hilights gathered weekend that the elite housing scheme is funded through a British Foreign Direct Investment of about $300 million and off plan sales. They said the city would be zoned into residential, mixed use and commercial areas, adding that there will be considerations for low, medium and high density areas as well as lagoon/water view area with a plot costing between N64 million and N429 million based on the payment plan and size of plot.
The high-end housing scheme is being developed to be accessed through three locations including Freedom Road through Lekki Phase 1 (Lekki Third Roundabout); Kunsenla Road by Fourth Roundabout of Lekki-Epe Highway and Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi Road by spare supermarket before Jakande. Another access road is being planned through Femi Okunu by Jakande Roundabout.
In an interview with the Managing Director of ChannelDrill, Olufemi Akioye, during the groundbreaking and Investor’s Interaction forum recently, said the city being smart and eco-friendly will define the standard of urban development in Africa.
In his words; “The island will attract the best companies from the globe. A place where work, live and play are within walkable distances from each other, set in a tropical landscape that will be safe, relaxing and a pleasure to behold and live in”.
“IIBC will be an island that will be built to global standard in a bid to ensure perfection in infrastructural efficiency, connected by future high speed water transportation, high speed rail and express highways to other parts of the Lagos mainland, island and beyond.
Additional delivery specifications showed that the new city will integrate smart technologies and distinctive features, which will make it first self-sustaining eco-friendly smart business district. For instance, real data of traffic flow within the city are connected to sensors that match the surface traffic congestion (loads on surface transport) to free roads and the sensors also give active surveillance, monitoring and alerts at vantage points within the city (real time adaptive traffic management).
Other features include smart emergency response, crime prevention (data centre); electricity – smart meters, smart grid and for energy optimisation meters are some of the facilities connected through the home area network (HAN) to advance metering infrastructure (AMI) with wired thermostats that are connected to the grid.
Engineers working with the company added that the technology will help with adjusting electricity to buildings based on consumptions at different times of the day as it helps eradicate blackout
Coming with the project include amenities like roads with walk and bicycle ways, waterways and lakes, underground drainage, sewage treatment, water and water treatment plant, 1-independent gas fired electricity and cooking gas piped to every house, fibre optic cable, cloud enabled communication network and smart city/house infrastructure for willing subscribers, a mini golf course and shopping mall.
