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A mini-city within the Garden City to be known as the PH-AirportCity, recently unveiled in Rivers State capital is set to boost travel into the State and attract investment opportunities.
The estate located near the Port Harcourt International Airport in the Omagwa area of the state is said to be a piece of investment initiative to attract back topmost executives most of whom fled the Garden City in recent years in the wake of threats of insecurity.
The mini-city, PH-AirportCity, is planned to commence with 2000 houses which is to be implemented in phases. The scheme is a partnership between the Rivers State Government through the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPCDA) and Masta Services Company Limited ably superintended by Ugo Ohuabunwa, a career professional builder with 40 years of experience in the design, construction, engineering and building profession.
The project is propelled by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) known as Masta-Rivers Development Company Limited with 70 percent to the private equity holder (Masta Services Company Limited) and 30 percent to the GPCDA on behalf of the Rivers State government.
The unveiling attracted a large audience that filled the Royal Hall at the exotic Hotel Presidential in the state capital during the PH-AIRPORTCITY Project launch and unveiling of the Masta Services Limited Partnership with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
The mini city within the larger Greater Port Harcourt City, with area of approximately 1, 900 square kilometres (40, 000 Hectares of land) and spanning eight Local Government Areas, with a projected population of about two (2) Million people planned to be an extension of the old Port Harcourt City while guaranteeing urban growth and gradual integrating of both cities as one single unit.
Hence, the referencing of PH-Airport City as ‘A City within a city’ planned to be Port Harcourt’s most visionary development, a city that connects Luxury Living with modern infrastructure and investment opportunities is to sit on 80 hectares of land with Certificates ready for investors, according to Ade Adeoshun, Consultant (Brands & Marketing) who spoke at the event. Adeoshun has already described the day as a great dawn in Rivers State, saying what has just happened to the state was no easy breakthrough considering its hugely unlocked oil and gas concentrates potentials of the Nigerian economy.
In his master presentation, Ugo Ohuabunwa, the Managing Director and CEO of Masta Services, who is doubles as the Managing Partner of Masta-Rivers Development Company Ltd, said concerned developers were aggrieved that the city was undergoing infrastructure decay, requiring urgent action, hence, the idea of a mini-city within the city.
Ohuabunwa asserted that people fled Port Harcourt not only because of insecurity but due to a lack of world class residential homes for the top-most executives who work hard. He said such people deserved a decent location of residence to rest and feel safe.
“We want to change that; we want to create a mini city in the main city for the highest class. This will free space for the middle class. The new city is deliberately located close to the Port Harcourt International Airport and will become the first aerotropolis, which is an urban area where the airport is the central economic driver, with infrastructure, land use, and economy structured around it. This concept expands beyond a typical airport city to include a wide range of connected developments, such as commercial, residential, logistics, and entertainment areas, all feeding off the airport’s global connectivity.”, he asserted.
He mentioned affordability as a key strategy, saying luxury is affordable. To achieve the initiative, Ohuabunwa said the company got land directly from the government partner, loan opportunities for buyers from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and further funding from the Stanbic IBTC Mortgage company.
On what the mini-city and the modern houses boast of, the CEO said the houses range from one-bedroom affairs to five-bedroom classes with e-security, CCTV system, malls, road network, storm water drainage, central sewage system, gas to power, gas for cooking, fibre optics, four fire stations, etc. The minimum rate may be N32m. He said this has not been done in Nigeria because the buyer’s money is not needed at the initial stage to build the houses.
Speaking earlier, Melody Ukwa, the Port Harcourt branch manager of the FMBN, confirmed the narrative, saying they have different types of mortgage offerings. “There is the category of Rent-to-Ownership scheme; there is renovation scheme; there is individual construction loan, there is Diaspora fund; there is National Housing Fund, etc.” All loans are for not more than 30 years.
Bennett Chu, Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, told journalists in an interview that the state government was keen to provide massive housing opportunities. He said the Authority was both a regulator and partner in the project, saying every single proposition was carefully verified. He added that the Authority suggested some of the features in the SPV because the state wanted the best for buyers and investors.
