"Sujimoto, I want my money back!"
"I want the $100,000 initial deposit I
made back."
"A lot of people are saying this dream is
impossible, and you are too overzealous."
"No one has
achieved such yet, especially not in Nigeria!" Her voice still echoes in
my head.
And, I remember
responding with, "Aunt, kindly exercise patience; the tenth floor at $1.5M
is a great deal."
She had no idea
that I had sold her a $4 million property for $1.5 million.
She continues,
"In my 27 years of professional expertise, I don't believe this dream is
achievable!"
These are statements and concerns I received from the chairman of a major insurance company that attended our 5th-anniversary celebration in 2019. Afterward, she decided to invest in Lucrezia's off-plan before the commencement of the LucreziaBySujimoto’s foundation. However, she canceled the transaction and requested a refund. Thankfully, the money was still intact, and I refunded her immediately.
She recently
visited the mock apartment and was flabbergasted by the incredible work and
speed we've achieved on the Lucrezia project. As one of our staff continued to
negotiate with her over the price this time, she refused him, saying,
"SUJI handed me this property for $1.5 million a few years ago before its
foundation started, why are you now telling me to pay three times the
price?"
I said to myself,
"This is what happens when a pessimistic investor refuses to trust in the
vision of tenacious entrepreneurs!"
Unfortunately, she
can’t afford it now, as the final unit we have is priced between $2.5 million
and $4 million.
The best time to
invest in real estate is to find a reliable developer with a wealth of
experience and integrity. Then buy into his vision, now!
The best time to
buy a property is to find a reliable developer with a wealth of experience and
integrity, then buy into the vision now!
I remember vividly
when we started Lucrezia—nobody believed us. The only person who believed in
our dream and was more than happy to invest in it was the Managing Director of
Providus Bank. A visionary leader who, despite all obstacles, sat at our side
at every meeting, fighting for us and ensuring that everything we needed to
complete the project was supplied.
Yes! Nobody told us
it wouldn't be easy.
Nobody told us
containers would spend months in port or foresaw the price of clearing a
container, spiking from N4M to N9M.
Nobody warned us of
the drastic exchange of the naira to the dollar, from N360 to today's rate of
N750, giving us a deficit of over N5B.
Nobody told us
COVID-19 would impact the global economy, which affected this project and shot
up our costs by over 200%. Nobody reminded us of all these.
But these are the
lessons we learn as energetic and uncommon entrepreneurs, as when we commit to
a project, we ensure its successful execution against all odds.
This is one of our
company's trade secrets. We believe in our goals of reinventing luxury living,
which is a true motivation for putting our perpetual effort into developing
what is now worth more than N50 billion.
Building a duplex
is different from building a skyscraper; there are fundamental, technical, but
essentially important details you need to know to build a skyscraper.
That's why all our
technical and structural engineers are people with successful experience in the
erection of skyscrapers across the globe. To reinforce our zero tolerance for
mediocrity, we hired an Italian piling master with 28 years of experience to
oversee the work of Nigeria's proclaimed best-piling company, as we were
determined to establish a foundation of unwavering strength.
With a total of
17,500 cubic meters of concrete used to create one of the biggest piles and
pile caps in the world, which has a 900 mm pile diameter and goes 45 meters
deep with over 140 piles, making Lucrezia’s foundation one of the most
formidable foundations ever, one to endure a century and beyond.
We raised the
building after the pilling from the ground floor to the 15th floor in 4 months,
making it the fastest construction of a high-rise building in Nigeria with the
use of bonded post-tensioning slabs, which are the only standards in Dubai for
the construction of high-rise buildings, making Sujimoto the first indigenous
company to use such technology.
To ensure that the
facade installations are of the highest quality, we went above and beyond by
recruiting the expertise of specialists and companies with proven track records
in the fabrication of facades costing more than 1.5 billion naira.
Aside from the
spectacular features—the IMAX cinema, the lobby, the virtual golf, a 345 square
meter temperature-controlled pool, including a Jacuzzi and kids’ pool, and a
spa— A special place the residents and other special members of society can
visit to indulge in the ultimate relaxation experience is Lucrezia. We have one
of the finest salons for the convenience and comfort of our residents, as well
as a creche to nurture future kings and queens. Also, to create ample space for
car parking, we raised the ground floor higher to enable double parking racks.
We are hopeful and
optimistic LucreziaBySujimoto will be completed by June 2023, and we'd be
gazing up at Banana Island's tallest building. A 15-story ultra-luxury building
with magnificent maisonettes and two of Africa’s best penthouses wrapped in a
rare façade material known as glass-reinforced concrete.
The $52 million
architectural masterpiece towers 65 meters above the ground, with a combined
livable space of 18,000 square meters reserved for the vital few and an
incredible, mechanically powered, centralized AC system that would outperform
any other company in Nigeria.
Our mockup flats
are designed to exude and emanate the luxury of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and
the Shard in London. Zaha Hadid Porcelanosa, one of the best Noble prize
architects in the world and the producer of the rarest sanitary wares by Porcelanosa,
immensely contributed to this project, making us the only developer in Africa
with such a level of rarity and class as it's only available at 5-star hotels
in Dubai and London.
With the proper
quality control checks at every level, we made sure that all T’s were crossed
and all I’s were dotted, ensuring thorough and rigorous quality control of
every material, from the sand to the chandeliers, doors, to sanitary wares, and
others. Without a doubt, the project has been founded on resilience and determination.
one of the most complex but successful projects ever, as everyone that worked
on the project paid excessive attention to details.
As we near the end
of this record-breaking project, we want to convey our deepest gratitude to
Providus Bank for helping us develop one of the greatest condominiums in the
African real estate market. And also, to our incredible staff, both local and
international, which numbered over 300 people working day and night for the
past 792 days to complete one of Africa most iconic projects
LucreziaBySujimoto's
penthouse, unquestionably the best penthouse in Africa, with a private golf
garden, private elevator, private pool, and private gym, is still available to
any audacious and daring individual. We also have one unit of the maisonette
available for sale at a reasonable price.
You can contact the
general managing director directly for further information or call 0809 124
3555.
Sijibomi Ogundele
is the Managing Director of Sujimoto Group, the Czar of luxury real estate
development, and the mastermind developer behind the infamous Giuliano. Our
other audacious projects, as the grandiose Sujimoto Twin Towers, the tallest
twin towers in Africa, the regal Queen Amina by Sujimoto, a monument to royal
affluence, and the magnificent LeonardoBySujimoto, Africa’s most exclusive
waterfront high-rise development, have etched an indelible imprint on Nigeria's
skylines, a testament to their unrivaled mastery of luxury.
Furthermore, Sujimoto is dedicated to redefining luxury living with transformative experiences through intricately designed architecture and also searching globally for the world's most renowned thought leaders in architecture, art, hospitality, and innovation.
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