Driven by the vision to provide first class and affordable housing infra-structure for residential and commercial purposes which will invariably impact on the quality of life of both high and medium income earners, Beverly & Sam Properties, a firm of property developers has developed an ultra modern multi-purpose shopping mall in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

Known as “Purplestone Mall”, the first class one-stop shopping edifice located in the ever bustling Apo area of Abuja, is expected to meet the yearnings of the residents by catering for their shopping needs.

Briefing the press last week in Lagos in respect to the commissioning of the multi-million naira project slated for November 2014, the Managing Director of Beverly & Sam Properties, Mrs. Lilian Agbakoba said the mall which sits on 3000 square metres of land will enable everybody no matter his or her social status, have a place to do their shopping, adding that this is the sole aim of her company for embarking on the massive project.

Massive project

Mrs. Agbakoba who lamented that there is a housing deficit of 17 million units in Nigeria, said “we have taken as part of our corporate social responsibility to play a role to close this wide gap by making housing more affordable. We are set to expand the PURPLESTONE brand of properties to 20 cities.

We have plans to expand into Asaba, Ikorodu, Abeokuta and other parts of the federation”, she noted.

Equating the mall with five-star shopping malls across the country in terms of status and service, Mrs. Agbakoba noted that Purplestone Mall’s profile in terms of quality of tenants in the mall and in terms of service delivery can be compared with the notable five-star shopping malls in Nigeria, admitting however, that the choice of locations is the difference between Purpolestone Mall and other five-star malls in Nigeria.

According to her, 80 percent of Nigerian cities do not have any shopping, pointing out that the company is therefore exploring the possibility of extending its business frontiers by replicating Purplestone Mall in some states of the federation

Mrs. Agbakoba who explained that the shopping complex has been completed and ready for commissioning, pointed out however, that what is ongoing at the complex is what is called snagging, which means trying to correct some abnormal situations in building in order to bring out a world class facility.

She revealed that in order not to let out the facilities to people whose characters are in doubt or whose financial standing cannot sustain continuity as tenants, the company is presently profiling prospective applicants.

According to her, the two-storey mall would be let out in the following order: Ground floor-N25, 000.00 per square metre, 1st floor, N23, 000.00 per square metre while the second floor would go for N21, 000.00 per square metre. She added that the cost for the shops are exclusive of the service charge which she said is N15, 000.00 per square metre for any floor because there would be a standby generator that is expected to run for nine hours daily.

“Among the benefits that would be accruable to owners of the shops are 24-hour security services, water supply, cleaning of common areas, waste management and an ample parking space for 80 cars”, she said.

In his remark, the Legal Adviser to the company, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said he decided to take interest in Beverly & Sam Properties because of the uniqueness of the mall. Agbakoba added that

the location of the mall in Apo is a big plus for those who would be patronising the place. He said most Nigerians are looking for places that are conducive to shop.

According to the Maritime lawyer, coming on board of Purplestone Shopping Mall in Abuja would serve as a one-stop shop to Abuja residents who have been longing for such an opportunity.