Sujimoto plans 49-storey Isabella hotel in Lagos, suites from $150,000

Sujimoto Group has announced plans for a 49-storey hotel in Lagos, which it says would be the country's tallest and most luxurious. The project is named Isabella de' Medici, after a member of the Italian family that helped make Florence a centre of the Renaissance.

The company says the hotel will mix hospitality with a new way of raising money: instead of buying a whole home, investors can buy a single suite and either use it or hand it to a managed rental pool.

Suites of 45 square metres are priced from $150,000 (about ₦220m at the official rate of roughly ₦1,470 to the dollar) during the pre-launch phase. The company says the price will rise to $210,000 when construction starts and could reach $600,000 by completion.

Founding investors would be allowed to name their suites after themselves and use them for up to 21 days a year, subject to the terms of the rental arrangement.

Sujimoto projects rental income of up to $30,000 a year on a $150,000 suite, a yield of about 20 per cent, and returns on equity of up to 300 per cent by the time the hotel is finished.

Those figures are the company's own estimates and are not guaranteed. Actual returns would depend on how full the hotel is, running costs, management fees, market conditions and the final investment terms. The projections have not been independently checked.

What the hotel would contain

According to Sujimoto, the building would have a sculpted KRION exterior, a lobby aquarium it describes as potentially Africa's largest in a hotel, and a hanging infinity pool on the 35th floor. It also lists international restaurants, luxury shops, wellness facilities, a private cinema, a casino, a billiards lounge and a sky bar.

The company says it wants to compete with global brands such as Four Seasons while showing off African hospitality.

The announcement comes as Sujimoto nears completion of Lucrezia, its 15-storey residential project on Banana Island, Lagos, where buyers have started taking possession.

In a statement he signed, Group Managing Director Sijibomi Ogundele said Lucrezia ran into serious pressure from rising construction costs, exchange-rate swings, borrowing obligations and regulatory hurdles. He said the company drove 112 piles for the foundation but admitted its financing was not well protected against economic shocks.

Ogundele said the experience has led to tighter controls for Isabella: less borrowing, spending matched to money on hand, financial checks at each construction milestone and stronger risk assessment. He said the company remains committed to finishing Lucrezia and meeting its obligations to investors and homeowners.

He also cited a Lucrezia unit bought for about ₦650m that the company says has been offered at ₦5bn, as an example of value growth. The figures came from Sujimoto and were not independently verified.

What happens next

No start date, completion date or financing plan has been announced. For would-be investors, the key questions are the delivery timeline, how the project will be funded and whether the promised returns hold up.