Banana Island, An Emerging Business District.

By Leye Taiwo

Until recently Victoria Island had been the destination of choice for premium office developers and occupiers, position that had been undisputed for the better part of the last two decades. The last few years has seen a shift in demand and supply dynamics of the Lagos premium office segment, with the emergence of Grade A office buildings in Ikoyi, creating an alternative business district to Victoria Island.

Ikoyi started playing catch up to Victoria Island with the delivery of BAT Rising Sun on Alfred Rewane Road in 2015, and has since seen the delivery of over 70,000 square meters on Alfred Rewane Road alone.

This growth in the delivery of premium office buildings in Ikoyi can be attributed to occupier demand for an alternative location to Victoria Island based.

Traditionally, with premium office buildings in limited supply, occupiers haven’t had a real opportunity to be discerning about their most specific needs, and as the market expands, we are beginning to understand that demand is not only based on the merits of a building’s specifications, but on other factors.

It doesn’t hurt that there’s been an uptick in supply of premium buildings across both Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

With Ikoyi emerging as a new business district, it has created more choice for occupiers who can now decide between high visibility on a high street or peace and tranquility in a gated estate, creating other sub categories within the Ikoyi region, such as Banana Island and Osbourne Estate, where a number of recent completions have achieved accelerated absorption rates and full occupancy in a number of properties.

As the requirements for office space changes for discerning occupiers, Banana Island is fast emerging as an alternative business district, appealing to those wishing to swap chaos for peace and calm in an exclusive and secure neighborhood.

Currently, the stock of office space in Banana Island exceeds 25,000 sqm including buildings such as Adunola House, Ford Foundation, Desiderata and Lake Point Towers.  Other benefits of Banana Island include, dedicated power supply and dedicated fibre optic internet supply and all of these are expected to be further boosted by the Banana Island Boat Club & Jetty currently under construction which would also increase accessibility.

This in addition to the number of residential buildings in the commercial zone of the island, already host to a large concentration of C level executives currently occupying the likes of Ocean Parade, Bella Vista and Lake Point Apartments offering circa 500 residential apartments.  It’s also already host to a number of multinationals and large local corporations including AbInbev, Airtel, Ford Foundation, 9 Mobile, Saipem, Olaniwun Ajayi LLP and a host of others.

As new clusters of commercial development regions emerge across Lagos, Banana Island is also emerging as a key consideration for corporates to locate their offices and aims to remind Lagosians that it is possible to maintain peace and calm in the busy city.