By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The CEO of Global Properties, Mr. Saul Frazer, has disclosed that the KotuLakeview and Gunjur Greenville housingprojects are “super exciting” for his real estate agency.
In January this year, Global Properties and the Sosseh family partnered to embark upon an ambitious housing project overlooking the lakeby the Kotu stream.
The thinking behind this project is to offer idealhousing solutions and after a sober reflection on the need to enable more families to benefit, Global Properties and the Sosseh family decided to bringon board over 180 families.
“Lakeview is a super exciting project. It’s a partnership between us and the Sossah family. I think I remember when I sat here the last time, I said if only the Sosseh family were to benefit on this particular land would’ve been a shame,” statedCEO Frazer in an interview with Coffee Time WithPeter Gomez on Thursday. He continued: “Nowwe have the opportunity, through our partnership, to bring on board 180 families, who are going to beliving in this development as we have 182 apartments. The development started in January. We are at 10 to 15% construction but we sold over 50% of the development. So, the location speaks a volume. The development and the price point alsospeak a volume and it just shows that the location is right, the price is right.”
Mr. Frazer rated Lakeview’s potential for successas great.
“The likelihood of success is very high. So, we are very happy with how things are going,” heenthused.
He explained that the majority of buyers of apartments at Lakeview are Gambians, especiallythose in the Diaspora.
Meanwhile, Global Properties is currently building around 200 homes at Gunjur Greenville, which isless than five kilometres away from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and 45 minutes drive fromSenegambia.
“Our business model started as real estate, sellingproperties and other people’s property but as I grew, I was able to add a lot to my portfolio in terms of development. In Tujereng, we did 200 homes and we’re doing around the same number in Gunjur Greenville,” stated Mr. Frazer. He added: “The idea of Global Properties is to cover the whole spectrum of real estate. Whether you have a land or house to sell, you can come to us and once we agree on terms, we will put it into our portfolio and sell it for you.”
Greenville covers over 30 hectares of land mass but according to CEO Frazer, Global Properties ispassionate about the project, its sheer size notwithstanding.
“The bigger the project, the more exciting for us,” he pointed out.
Meantime, Global Properties has integratedsustainable environmental practices into its modus operandi.
“I believe that the environment has to be takenseriously and it’s something that we’ve starteddoing some time ago. Traditionally, real estatedevelopers are seen as the biggest enemies to the environment but we thought long enough to makea difference,” stated CEO Frazer. He continued: “So, when the project of Greenville came intoplay, we decided to work with the National Environment Agency to get approval and do thingsaccordingly. When we approached them, theyadvised us to work with an independent body, whowent and did the assessment for us. I think it tookabout three months or more which involved themgoing down on the ground, looking at all stakeholders; villages…How this is going to impact them. They came back withrecommendations and one of them is if we’re to cut one tree, we must plant two more or three more in the same area or anywhere else within the region.”
He explained that the recommendation galvanizedGlobal Properties into collaborating with ST.
“And that[recommendation] led us to partner withST because he has a project to plant one million trees for The Gambia. He was one of our partnersto do so and we continue to do so. The environment is crucial not only to our generationbut the generation that is going to come. It isimportant that we take care of it now rather thanlater,” stressed the Global Properties boss.
Global Properties’ Greenville has earned itself the accolade as the Gambia’s first-ever NEA-certifiedhousing project and its CEO and founder is proudof this feather on the cap.
“We are very proud to be the first and the onlyNEA-certified project in the history of The Gambia. We are looking forward to more of thisproject. We paid the consultant a lot of money. Wealso paid a fee for NEA approval. It’s been worthit. Like, I said, the environment is not onlyimportant for Global Properties but to the country and the world at large. So, we are happy to contribute towards its sustainability,” said Frazer, who founded Global Properties, in 2007.
