By Modupe Gbadeyanka
It was a fun-filled day for friends and associates of a Lagos-based real estate company, Metro and Castle Limited, on Saturday, December 14, 2024.
The firm had its 2024 Realtors Hangout and it attracted several notable personalities and realtors, who gathered to celebrate with Metro and Castle at one of its newly-built facilities, Metro Homes, in the Ajah area of Lagos State.
The company also commissioned its newly built training centre, which can accommodate 150 people at a time. According to the organisation’s chief executive, Mr Adekunle Abdul, this facility will be used strictly for free training.
He informed guests at the event that, “This year has been pretty tough; there has been a lot of ups and downs. The forecast never comes to reality, but you wake up tomorrow and see all kinds of figures changing, and as a real estate professional, we are figure-oriented, you know, construction is one thing that if you miss the figures, you miss the business.
“In the midst of all that, God was able to come through, we are able to see through, we are able to manoeuvre through obstacles.
“All the projects that we set out to deliver this year were delivered; this is actually the last one. Unfortunately, the other ones are on the main road; they are apartments. We don’t build apartments inside; we build them on the main road.
“We delivered over 32 apartments, 2 blocks outside, over 16 units of terraces on the inside. The project for 2025 is already starting at the back, work is already going on.”
Speaking further, he said, “The most important thing in any business is brand building. Regardless of what the economic situation says, people will always need shelter, and when it gets tough, they will want to choose or go with the best in the market at that point.
“So, I would say that we leveraged our brand integrity; we are not on any news, we’ve never been on any social media platform, what you see is what you get.”
“Based on the referrals, people want to invest safely at this period; you can’t afford loss of funds in this economy, and people want to know that they are working with a real estate company that can deliver.
“I think for us, out of over 48 units, we only have 5 left here, everything has been sold out completely, so those that are buying are buying, that’s the truth,” he added.
Commenting on the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Mr Abdul said the company gave a prayer partner a house and donated 15 solar street lights.