Purple Mall Unveiled In Lekki

LAGOS  – One full shop has been unveiled in Lekki to serve the ever increasing demand for such an all-important facility.

The unveiling and cutting of ribbon was done by the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo -Olu

It’s a mixed-use building and what’s inspired is convenience. Those that live in the building can easily get to everything that they need within the building without living in the building. They can walk within the building, there’s some offices within the building.

At the same time they can play within the building and they can shop their groceries, essential and non-essential, within the building. 

So it serves as a one-stop center and the concept is obviously to co-locate and bring everything into one singular place that is easily accessible. So, within this building, like I said, it’s mixed-use and you were missing in action, but what I said was that it has the element of workshop, eat, play, drink, leave and gym as well, right? Fitness and the rest.

It has offices, as well as the gym,” we have the rest, we also have the residential and this is the first mixed-use building that is retail infused. You’ve seen buildings where you have the offices says the chairman of COPU, Mrs. Jumoke Akinwune.

It has Studio apartments, 260 studio apartments within the building, 162 keys in actual fact and the reason why it’s 162 is simply because there’s someone beds, two beds, three beds and four beds, but quite a lot of studio units in there as well, so when you look at the keys, we have 162 keys. In total, because they are in plates.

“We have 260 units, but when you combine them into two floors, then you have 162 units. Right at the top of the building, on four floors, on two wings, on four floors and two wings.” 

The entire building is on four floors? No, the entire building is on eight floors, ground floor seven, right? It’s separated by a middle floor which is the car park, but the car park also has five levels of car park to the rear, connecting to the middle floor of the building on the third floor, which then accommodates over 500 cars. Right, it’s a complex building. It is a complex building, but just to understand, there’s a platform, a huge platform, and that platform is on four or five levels, and then on top of that platform is a small tower.

That tower block is where you have the residences, the studio apartments. So, this is a typical mixed-use, excellent example. Do you have offices here? So, on the second floor, we have some offices.

On the second floor, sharing the same floor with the fitness floor, right? So, you’ve got the gym in there, but you also have the offices on that floor as well. So, you have a mix of everything. Offices, retail, entertainment, and then residential.

Retail, entertainment, offices, residential, all in one building. So, I mean, it’s quite a unique, it’s quite a different building from what you typically would see everywhere. It’s like a destination building. 

“So, we’re not passing through, you’re coming here for a reason. You’re coming here to be entertained, watch a movie, you can come to the gym, you can come to eat, you can live, you can work. So, from what he said, there are many mixed-uses in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos, but I don’t know right now off the top of my head any that is a real destination.” 

So within the building itself, there’s been a plethora of jobs that have been created within the neighborhood, from the small-time jobs to the major jobs. If you look at the impact on the environment in itself alone, the drainage works, maintenance and stuff were done by us and will continue to be taken care of by us. The garden works to the front of the building from Delta Afrique to Cowash is also done and maintained by us.

“So, we are adding all of that notification, that environmental impact to the entire neighborhood. And it’s interesting for you to also note that this building is the first building that has been certified, Edge certified by the International Finance Corporation, IFC. So it’s got a IFC EDGE certification, which is the topmost certification that you have for environmental impact, that’s sustainability for a building of this nature.”

And it’s the first of its kind that is retail-infused, that has received such certification from the country today. So, there’s quite a real impact that we’re cutting across from the real ones that you probably can’t even see, feel and touch, jobs to the environment. We’re cutting across a whole section of that. 

“We have a mix. Our strategy is a mixed approach, a three-pronged approach. A code scope on the one leg, a diesel engine on the other leg, and gas supply on the third leg”. 

It’s the blended mixture of these that we are working towards to ensure that we have a full-proof plan that is cost-effective to maintain around the building on a power basis. Is it an individual-based or centrally-based? It’s centrally-based. Everything that we do in the building is centrally-based in terms of power provision. 

Even to the cooking gas that the restaurants use is also centrally-provided. There is something that is lacking in most markets in Nigeria, most malls in Nigeria which is regulation of prices. Do you think there is any way prices of things being sold here or services being rendered here could be regulated to make it unique? I mean, I’m not too careful of a free market.

“I’m not a communist or socialist in nature. I mean, price is a function of demand and supply. I don’t think regulation has got anything to do with price and mechanism.”

“The price is what you call it. If there is a willing buyer, then we can supply it at those levels. And to be honest, I don’t think the prices within our building are perfect or outrageous in nature.”

“Depending if you’re going for a mid-market product or you’re going for a premium-type product, you have to batter up the opportunity in this building from the strong international brands to strong domestic brands that you may be interested in. I may be interested in Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger, but somebody else may be interested in Fiona Sankara to trade. So the option is yours and we have the availability for that”.

“That’s the essence of the mixed-use building. Assuming, like myself here, I have interest to come and pick a store or maybe a space, what can it take somebody like me to come and have a space here? I mean, we go through – I wouldn’t give you a space because you’re not a retailer. We go through a full spectrum of criteria in order for us to select our trading partners.”