Cosgrove, Benue Govt collaborate to build 36-unit smart homes in FCT

Cosgrove Investment Limited has sealed a multibillion naira smart estate development deal with the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC) Limited for the development of 36 units super smart homes that will consist of 10 units of five-bedroom detached duplexes and 26 units of four-bedroom terrace duplexes.

The estate, which groundbreaking ceremony was performed by the Executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, at the construction site of the estate in Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, on Thursday has a project completion timeline of 18 months.

Speaking at the ceremony, the governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor of the state, Benson Abounu, said the groundbreaking ceremony is “extremely important not only to Benue State government, but also to the economic development of Benue State and the country.”

“Recently, the BIPC Board made a fresh presentation to the Executive Council that they have found a reliable investor who desires to collaborate with Benue State government in order to actualize the dream,” he said.

“The Benue State Executive Council carefully examined and scrutinized Cosgrove via a behind the scene investigation to find out the viability or otherwise of Cosgrove as a competent investor, and we came to the realization that Cosgrove Investment Limited is a very reliable investment company.”

Governor Ortom said “as a result of that, the Benue State Executive Council unanimously passed a resolution to collaborate with Cosgrove for the development of the land.”

He said the government has considered and approved the designs and that construction will start immediately. “I like to express the gratitude of Benue State Government to Cosgrove Investment Limited,” he said, stating that the government of Benue State will do everything possible to support the company.

“We are confident that you will introduce the most recent technology,” the governor added.

The Chairman of Cosgrove, Umar Abdullahi, described the ceremony as a remarkable public private partnership between the Samuel Ortom-led government of Benue State and a wholly indigenous yet forward-looking construction company – Cosgrove Investment Limited through the aegis of the Benue Investment & Property Company.

While saying that Cosgrove is focused on pioneering the integration of technology and automation in real estate development in Nigeria, he assured that it resolved to be the investment partner of choice for institutional investors like BIPC to accomplish set goals, adding that the Public Private Partnership is the quintessential vehicle that captures the Benue State government’s goal through the BIPC to drive economic development in the state by promoting, managing and investing in projects which maximize stakeholders’ value.

Mr Abdullahi, who was represented by the Chief Technical Officer, Cosgrove, Baba Kalli said: “Cosgrove is the obvious choice for this as our strategic strength integrating technology and automation in construction enhances user experience in the built-up space and creates high yield assets by way of the homes constructed.”

He said the estate, which will sit on 1.29hectares in Mabushi District of the FCT consist of 36 state-of-the-art smart luxury homes, adding that every real estate investor knows that location is key to the value of every asset.

“With its proximity to strategic locations within and around the FCT – the airport, major shopping malls, recreational centres, just to list a few,” he added.

Discussing some features which home owners will enjoy in the estate, he listed Fibre to the Home supported by full fibre optic cabling, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition at the gate adding that “Cosgrove is the first company to offer this in Nigeria.”

Chairman of the occasion, Gabriel Suswam, commended the collaboration between Cosgrove and BIPC saying that it is in line with global best practices in the real estate investment sector. “All over the world, governments are collaborating with competent private sector operators who have the technical and financial competence to deliver great initiatives for development,” adding that the BIPC Management and its Board must be commended for deeming it necessary to engage a competent investor in Cosgrove.

According to the Chairman, who was represented by Rt Hon Tengo Tegba, “I am happy that piece of land which has been lying undeveloped for the past 20 years is now being developed for investment purposes by BIPC and Cosgrove.”

Sen Suswam, who was governor of Benue State, commended the “management of Cosgrove for taking a very bold step to collaborate with the BIPC despite fears associated with public sector investments of this nature as a result of possible change in policy.”

Mr Abdullahi said HD CCTV cameras with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities will be part of the star features of the homes, adding that the cameras will be managed from a central security hub to ensure safety. “All homes have spacious rooms with ensuite conveniences as well as customisable rooms for home gym or cinema should the home owner desire,” he added.

“The homes in the BIPC-Cosgrove Smart Estate will come equipped with our signature automation systems to not only give residents superlative living experience, but ensure outstanding return on investment for the investor,” he assured.

The Chairman, Board of the BIPC, Mike Mku, described the collaboration between Cosgrove and BIPC as a key achievement of the Samuel Ortom-led government of Benue State, stating that all the members of the BIPC Board are present at the occasion in view of its strategic importance to the economic development of the state, with BIPC and Cosgrove as drivers of the initiative.

BIPC has a statutory mandate to invest, make profit and raise revenue for the state and we have identified an able partner in Cosgrove, he explained, adding that the collaboration is a milestone in BIPC’s property development mandate.

According to Mku, “The BIPC-Cosgrove Smart Estate is one of our star projects, and we engaged Cosgrove because we are aware of the ability of the company to deliver,” Mbu said while also quoting the Chairman of Cosgrove as saying that the estate will introduce a completely new development in luxury living via latest innovations in smart homes.

He expressed confidence in the ability of Cosgrove to deliver a world class smart estate in collaboration with BIPC, stating that the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) security system, smart cameras, motion detectors and other top of the range security systems promised by Cosgrove are necessary to enhance security in modern day living.

The Board Chair said: “The fact that we engaged an internationally recognized smart homes development expert – Cosgrove, means that we will get best results and value from the landed property being developed,” adding that BIPC is a state-owned company that will continue to collaborate with competent companies.

Managing Director, Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC), Alex Ter Adum, said there are 36 units consisting of 10 detached duplexes of 5 bedroom, and 26 terrace duplexes are 4 bedroom. He said BIPC is an investment company and looks forward to making good profits from the deal. We are already discussing with off-takers and we will leverage on the reputation of Cosgrove as well as ours to achieve set goals.