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Sujimoto Group has unveiled plans to develop a 49-storey hotel in Lagos, following the completion of its Lucrezia residential project on Banana Island.
The proposed hotel, named Isabella de’ Medici, is expected to feature hotel suites, restaurants, retail outlets, wellness facilities, a private cinema, a casino, a billiards lounge and a sky bar.
The company’s Group Managing Director, Dr Sijibomi Ogundele, said the project was conceived to expand the company’s activities from residential property development into hospitality.
According to Ogundele, the proposed hotel reflects the company’s ambition to establish a hospitality business in Lagos.
“Our vision was inspired by the cultivated magnificence of Renaissance Florence and Isabella de’ Medici, a woman of formidable intellect, exquisite taste and uncommon devotion to the arts,” he said.
He added that the project was designed to combine international hospitality standards with African influences.
“Our ambition is to rival Four Seasons in luxury and impeccable service, while showcasing the warmth, elegance and graciousness of African hospitality,” Ogundele said.
The proposed development is expected to include a lobby aquarium, a swimming pool on the 35th floor, dining facilities, shops and wellness centres.
However, the company did not provide a construction commencement date or a projected completion date in its announcement.
Ogundele also acknowledged the financial and operational difficulties the company encountered during the development of Lucrezia, its residential project on Banana Island.
He said rising construction costs, foreign exchange pressures and borrowing obligations affected the project and strained relationships with investors.
“We drove 112 piles into the earth beneath Lucrezia, laying a foundation intended to endure for more than a century. Yet not one could anchor the exchange rate,” he said.
According to him, the company faced mounting financial obligations while homeowners waited for their properties to be completed.
“We had engineered the building to withstand extraordinary pressure, but had not given its financing the same margin of safety,” he said.
Ogundele admitted that the concerns of investors and homeowners were understandable, given the delays and financial challenges surrounding the project.
“Their doubts were justified. They had purchased homes, not explanations for our difficulties,” he said.
He added that the company continued working on the project despite the challenges.
“Years of preparation could not shield us from government policy hurdles, unforeseen changes and mounting costs,” Ogundele said.
“But our word was not ours to abandon. We bore the burden, stayed the course and brought Lucrezia to completion.”
The Sujimoto chief executive said the experience had prompted the company to reconsider its approach to financing and project management.
He said the proposed hotel development would involve closer attention to borrowing, available funding and financial risk.
“We have learnt our lessons, at a price too great to forget,” he said.
“We cannot dictate the fortunes of an economy, but we can exercise greater discipline over our own.”
Ogundele said the company intended to match its financial commitments with available resources and introduce safeguards at different stages of construction.
“At Isabella, that means prudent borrowing, commitments matched to available funding, financial security safeguards at every construction milestone, and rigorous risk assessment and mitigation,” he said.
The company also outlined a plan to allow private investors to purchase individual hotel suites, which it said could be used personally or placed in a professionally managed rental pool.
It put the initial price of a suite at $150,000, with investors potentially earning rental income through the proposed arrangement.
However, the projected returns cited by the company have not been independently verified and would depend on factors including the hotel’s completion, occupancy levels, operating costs and market conditions.
Ogundele said the company intended to maintain communication with investors throughout the development process.
“For if Lucrezia taught us the extraordinary price of building against the odds, Isabella must demonstrate not merely how to dream on a grander scale, but how to deliver with greater foresight, carrying our investors along every step of the journey, from groundbreaking through delivery and into hotel operations,” he said.
The proposed Isabella de’ Medici hotel represents the company’s next major development following Lucrezia, which was designed as a residential property on Banana Island, Lagos.
