New Cities and Real Estate Markets- A focus on the Eko Atlantic City Project

The Eko Atlantic City is a new city currently being built on reclaimed land on the Atlantic Ocean, along the Bar Beach shoreline in Lagos, Nigeria. The development is a joint venture between the Lagos State Government and South Energyx Nigeria Limited. The city is estimated to occupy a land size of about 10 square kilometres and have a mix of different land uses. The well-planned city would be home to about 250,000 people and provide employment for about 150,000 people. The project has already recorded a 50% completion of the reclamation site and provision of infrastructural facilities such as road layouts within the area.It is expected that the emergence of this new city would have some impact on the local real estate market as the Eko Atlantic City would increase the supply of property accommodation units for the different land uses. This paper looks at the impact of new cities to real estate markets, with particular reference to the impact of the Eko Atlantic City to real estate market trends, practices and values in the neighbouring regions of Victoria Island and Ikoyi; both in Lagos State, laying emphasis on its likely effect on property values on both new and existing buildings.Investigations using online resources, interviews with real estate professionals as well as the local real estate trends have aided in the determination of the research. A few limitations to the research work such as the authenticity of information garnered since the land area is still being sand-filled and that few developers have begun construction but are still at the foundation stage. Despite the limitations, the paper remains relevant in recent times as a pointer to real estate investors in these areas and a projection of how real estate trends and practices would evolve in the near future.