Three months into 2021 and Black Diamond Engineering has emerged as the key contractor on at least 3 new large developments in Ikoyi and Lekki Phase 1. This new activity brings their current active ‘Class A’ project count to an impressive 18. It is representative of the growing affinity developers have towards the company and we have taken a keen interest. 

Across all project sectors, developers clearly have a resolve to proceed despite the current market conditions. I hold this position as our team notes the announcement of or development starts for large scale developments almost weekly. One interesting takeaway is the increasing diversity of contractors being used to execute, especially with projects in the larger scale category. Similar projects delivered during the preceding decade were largely executed by Cappa & D’alberto (Rising Sun, Ultimate Apartments, Civic Tower, Tarino Towers renovation, Seattle Residences), ITB Construction (Kuramo Beach Residences,  Heritage Place, Kingsway Tower, Alpha 1) and also El-alan in a few instances (Golden and Olympic Tower, The Sphere, 4 Bourdillon). While these contractors generally operate at a fee scale that is higher than the market average,  the newfound diversity in options for main contractors with companies such as Black Diamond Engineering, Al Mansour Contracting, BCL and even Eko Pearl Contracting is slowly changing the market perception of contractors that can execute well.

A senior member of the Black Diamond team explained to us that their project portfolio largely consisted of small to mid-sized multi-family residential developments back in 2012 when they were established. One of their breakout projects was Sapphire Court, a multi-family development in Oniru sponsored by Seagle Properties. It was awarded in 2013 and completed in 2014. In the years that followed the Black Diamond Engineering team completed the Upbeat Centre, a leisure and entertainment centre by Uraga Real Estate in Lekki Phase 1, while working on a steady pipeline of projects in Oniru that were still sponsored by the Seagle Properties Team among others.

The highly visible Eyes of Lagos residential development, located right on the Ikoyi side of the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge Roundabout, however, has given them their most visibility to date, even more so when you consider the relative speed at which the project came up.  Other projects in Black Diamond’s pipeline include the Luxuria by The Address Homes and 18 Osbourne in Ikoyi as well as C & C Hotel among others. See the full list on Estate Intel.

Black Diamond explained to ei that they are keen on building a strong indigenous team with the capacity to execute at the highest standard. They stress their commitment to consistently reinvest profits in high-quality equipment, formwork and capacity building to ensure they can keep securing contracts on much larger projects.

Other contractors such as BCL, who completed Alliance Place, a notable office development on Alfred Rewane Road in Ikoyi, in 2019 are also increasingly being seen as a viable alternative. They are currently working on projects including Iconic Towers in Victoria Island and The Overlook Condominiums in South West Ikoyi. In addition, Al-Mansur, who built Madina Tower, are the key consultants for Crystal Tower in Victoria Island while they execute a number of residential developments in Ikoyi for ‘FWL’.

What do you think is driving the increased diversity in main contractors executing projects on behalf of developers? Join the conversation on Linkedin.