Located on the corner of Ahmadu Bello Way and Akin Adesola Street, IMB Plaza was once of Lagos’ most recognisable and revered structures. The 5-floor property, which faced Bar beach (now Eko Atlantic), was designed in the 80s by Inchsacpe.KI architects, a multi-disciplinary architectural practice based in Lagos. Inchsacpe.KI is also known for designing UPDC’s Victoria Mall Plaza and Ecobank’s Head Office in Victoria Island as well as 47 Marina in Lagos Island.

The property was developed by the now defunct International Merchant Bank (IMB), which became part of First Inland Bank in 2008 that was acquired by FCMB in 2010. In Q2:2016, the property was put up for sale with a guide price of N3.5 billion. It has now been acquired for an undisclosed amount and is currently being renovated with the help of main contractors, Craneburg Construction.

Renovation commenced in late Q1:2018 and the property is currently being gutted. The extent to which the building will be changed is not currently known. While the property lost its waterfront views to Eko Atlantic, the 5,000sqm site that IMB Plaza is located on is opposite the proposed site of Eko Atlantic’s mega mall.

Interest in the purchase and renovation of Grade B properties has increased as excess prime office space has been delivered onto the market in the past 24 months. An additional 127,000sqm is in the development pipeline for 2018 alone. However, the improvement in the specification of buildings available has sent those which are older, down a pricing level and into the Naira rental segment. This puts pressure on the case for Grade B buildings, especially in an environment with rising construction costs.

See photos of the building below.