Kafe district: New home to lush estates
Kafe District is home to dozens of new estates in Abuja. The district is adjacent to Gwarinpa to the South but easily accessible through Life Camp. It has exquisitely planned houses in a serene atmosphere, that distinguishes it from some of the districts of the city. Prominently among them are Brains and Hammers and GODAB […]
Kafe District is home to dozens of new estates in Abuja. The district is adjacent to Gwarinpa to the South but easily accessible through Life Camp. It has exquisitely planned houses in a serene atmosphere, that distinguishes it from some of the districts of the city.
Prominently among them are Brains and Hammers and GODAB estates with hundreds housing units mainly duplex, maisonette. Some of the developers said the elegant and classy houses, lined with lush green lanes and fancy gardens are affordable to average Nigerians.
However, the classy finishing of the houses, the electric fence and automated security system could mean it might be far from their reach.
But the facility manager at the Brains and Hammers Estate, Okorie Ogochukwu, said the estate is for various classes of residents including common Nigerians adding that the houses are not as expensive as they seem.
“We have various categories of people who live here as the estate is very affordable so it cut across all ranges of people. There is no particular group, we have people who are businessmen, we have politicians, we have expatriates, so common Nigerians all live here, so our structure is for everybody,” he said.
The district which is a few minutes’ drive from Life Camp and less than 30 minutes’ drive to the city centre has arguably some of the well planned estates in the territory. The high number other estates under construction in the district shows that the property industry, though capital intensive is thriving in the territory.
Okorie said the company sell to owners who can in turn decide to rent out their properties.
He explained that properties at the estate range from N5 million to about N18 million depending on its type, mainly duplexes, flats and maisonette.
Another well planned and stunning edifice in the district is GODAB which has more than 400 units of duplexes and maisonettes. It prides itself on the aesthetically pleasing environment and state of the art facilities and a police outpost.
While the houses are sold between N50 million and N70 million, a source within the management who would not want to be named because he is not permitted to talk to the press said the estates are not yet fully occupied but are readily available for sale for those that can afford to pay them.
The source further said the houses were built and handed over to the owner by the developer after which he can decide to rent it out or reside therein.
Though there are several estates yet to be completed in the district, residents are of the view that when fully developed, it would shelter those at the top echelon.
It was gathered that the facility charges in some of estates could pay rent in other locations.
Of interest also is Gwarinpa said to be the largest housing estate in West Africa which was constructed during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha. It sits on an expanse of land measuring about 1090 hectares with residential areas which is marked by avenues.
Due to its well designs and architecture structures some new estates are springing up in the Gwarinpa axis. Not only are the estate developers finding the area attractive to develop estates but individual owners of lands.
An estate administrates staff of Mab Global Estate in the new Gwarinpa 2 axis Mr. Gwar Donald Deso told Daily Trust the estate with over 600 housing units, consisting of both duplex and bungalows was built in the area due to good location.
Deso said the estate like many others in area was sold out to individuals under the home ownership arrangement.
He said, “Some of the owners of the houses who are mostly retired military personnel, top government officials as well as business people either gave out the house as rent or lease while some moved in as occupants of the house, some of them bought plots of land and built on it while some also bought the complete structures.”
Asked how much plots of lands are sold in the area for prospective house owners, he said: “The land was sold for about 10 million naira but the price went up when the estate was developed and the present price cannot be compared with the initial price.’’
He said a duplex in the estate with 5 bedrooms and an attached boys quarter costs N50 million.
Deso explained that a potential buyer can either negotiate through an agent or meet the owner which he said is quite preferable in order not to fall into the hands of dubious persons.
He however said prices of new estates in the vicinity can still not compete with those in high brow areas such as Maitama and Asokoro.
“The estate is standard but you know places like Maitama has a big name already and there could be similarities and differences even in terms of prices, you know the location really matters a lot and that will now tell in the prices as well.’’
According to him, 98% of the houses have been bought already and about 50% of residents are already occupying the houses in the estate.
Also estates such as Aso Garden developed by Global High have been completed along the Karsana axis. the vast estate which are in 3 storey comprises of 3 bedroom flats, 4 bedroom terrace, 4 bedroom semi-detached and 5 bedroom detached.
The project was financed by Aso Savings with a flexible payment plan from 4m.
Daily Trust saw many estates undergoing contrctuin in the Karsana environ and upon compeletion will undoubetdely be a populous comnunity.
Musa Ibrahim, a resident told Daily Trust that construction work has stopped in most of the estates due to the “suspension” of activities which he claimed came from the FCT Administration.
With the high rate of construction in the district, it might be among the best in the territory with well planned estate facility.