Inside Kaduna posh estate ...buyers grumble over high cost
Asprawling estate in the heart of Kaduna is causing a stir among residents. The estate, known as the NNDC Golf Course Housing Estate, stands opposite a golf course and is located at 44 Golf Course road, Kaduna.
It is owned by the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC).
Our correspondents learnt that within a few weeks of putting up a notice, hundreds of applications were received from prospective buyers. “The applications were submitted in sealed envelopes and were yet to be opened ahead of the sale of the houses,” a source said.
The estate has 65 apartments including 12 detached three bedroom duplexes, 10 semidetached three bedroom duplexes, eight terraced threebedroom duplexes and 30 twobedroom flats.
It also has a mall with over 40 shops to serve the estate community and others.
Other features of the estate included tarred road, two transformers, water reservoirs, electricity, drainage system and parking space.
A servant room is attached downstairs to each of the three bedroom duplexes. There is also space serving as balconies upstairs. Each of the 12 detached three-bedroom duplex is sitting on 1,000 square meters; the semi-detached three-bedrooms consist of two flats each on five blocks while the three-bedroom terrace has four flats each on two blocks. The two bedroom wing contains six flats each on five blocks.
Daily Trust learnt that prepaid meters are to be provided for each flat. The water system has been reticulated to pump water directly into the houses and each house is equipped with communication gadgets for security.
The duplexes and semidetached apartments, according to Daily Trust’s findings, go for N67.5 million each while the terraces go for N62.5 million.
The two bedroom apartments go for N16.5 million each.
The firm handling the estate said their plan is not rent but to sell all to an institutional buyer.
However, so far, applications are being received from individuals who have indicated interest in owning the houses.
People are attracted to the buildings by the neatness, finishing and aesthetics, and the serenity of the environment and the landscape it overlooks.
One of the persons interested in buying an apartment at the estate who gave his name as Malam Adamu said he was attracted to the place by the modernity and location.
“From outside, you will see that it is of high quality and located in a serene environment,” he said.
On getting inside, the prospective buyers realize there is much more. But the only snag is said to be the cost.
Some estate managers in Kaduna said that the price is on the high side given that the cost of acquiring property in Kaduna is not as high as in other places like Abuja.
Many prospective buyers also say they do not envisage that a house in Kaduna will attract such costs.
A real estate developer in Kaduna, who does not want his name mentioned, said “There are so many houses in Abuja unoccupied, yet people suffer problem of accommodation. The price is too high. We guess they are not building to sell.”
The Group Managing Director of NNDC, Dr. Ahmed Musa Mohammed, who spoke with our correspondent on the seeming high cost, said considering the materials used in building the houses, its location and the type of facilities installed for comfortable living, the offer is not on the high side.
He said NNDC is a limited liability company and designed to make profit but it only added 20 percent of the cost as profit.
He said the company has other projects it is handling and will invest the funds in other development projects so that people can feel the impact of the company.
The GMD said the company had initially wanted to put the houses on rent but reconsidered the option due to the cost of maintenance.
“I am confident that what we did was the right thing,” he said.
How to buy
Buying a house in the estate requires that a prospective buyer writes a letter on intention, and is issued a letter of condition specifying the rules guiding living in the estate and if the prospective buyer accepts the conditions, he is then issued with the mode of payment.
Findings revealed that the plot of land used for the estate is worth about N600 million while the contract for the construction was awarded at N1.6 billion.
An insider told our correspondent the NNDC, which received the property from the contractor about four weeks ago, may have attached the cost as a way of discouraging exploitative prospectors that may want to buy and resell at a higher cost.
A manager at one of the firms handling the estate, Malam Ibrahim Suleiman, told Daily Trust that many people have applied but bids were yet to open. He however said “We are looking for an institutional buyer that will buy everything.”
The NNDC has the 19 northern states as shareholders.