ABOUT VERDANT VENTURES
OUR VISION
- Verdant Ventures’ vision is to build flourishing communities in Africa and developing markets.
OUR MISSION
- Verdant Ventures’ mission is to provide high quality real estate projects across Africa, meeting diplomatic and international standards, creating satisfied customers, empowered workers, and delighted investors.
OUR KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
- Deliver high-quality, safe, on-time, on-budget, on-spec projects.
- Serve International clients in Africa and developing markets.
- Delight our investors with compelling returns.
- Structure projects to have a positive impact on communities served by training workers, establishing international building standards and implementing a safe, repeatable safety model.
OUR CORE VALUES
- Unwavering Integrity
- Exceptional Performance
- Collaborative Teamwork
- Creative Innovation
WHAT SETS US APART
Verdant Ventures is uniquely positioned for success
in the African diplomatic housing segment. Verdant Ventures believes that it is the only platform in this segment with the synergistic strengths below:
<50 years combined real estate / construction experience in Africa. Relationship with U.S. Department of State’s Overseas Buildings Operations Bureau in 2014. Elevation Residences, Verdant’s first project in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, is on schedule and on budget.
Exterior rendering of Verdant’s Elevation Residences, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The first project, Elevation Residences in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has been fully funded and was completed in September 2021.
A 112 unit diplomatic spec residential tower in the heart of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. It is located in a city that is host to over 130 diplomatic missions, and when completed this project will be the only security and international construction standard compliant housing development available for consular level staff in Ethiopia.
Despite its large diplomatic community and fast economic growth, Africa still has a significant shortage in diplomatic level, seismically rated, and secure housing.
Local developers lack the knowledge of seismic and security standards being demanded by the larger consular communities and have been unable to respond to this imbalance. As a result, international-standard housing has become a high priority for Embassies and a high value acquisition target for African real estate investors.
Verdant Ventures then conducted extensive research to validate adequate demand for housing and satisfactory
economic and operating conditions. Accra, Nairobi, and Kampala emerged as the most favorable for the next Phase of its expansion. Each new market is benchmarked against Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as follows:
Verdant is making an impact in Africa.
Our Process To Launch New Developments
1. Confirm specific demand from key tenants.
Using our strategic relationships, we will confirm demand, timing, pricing and other key requirements for a successful development. Indicative interest – a letter of interest/intent – at the same time, will be sought.
2. Indentify sites within close proximity of the American and/or European embassies.
Using our strategic relationships, we will confirm demand, timing, pricing and other key requirements for a successful development. Indicative interest – a letter of interest/intent – at the same time, will be sought.
3. Conduct market survey, cost estimates, & design renderings.
We will use our extensive experience and world-class partners to conduct accurate assessments of the market opportunity, project costs, and design renderings. Again, designs will be discussed with and tailored as appropriate to the tenant’s requirements. Multi-tenant scenarios will need to be considered where build-to-suit is not pursued.
4. Secure lease commitment from anchor tenant.
At this point, we work with our key relationships at the major embassies in-country to secure binding letters of intent or pre-leases to lease units, with a target of having 60% of units under letters of intent/pre-lease to occupy before construction commences. We expect to have additional non-binding letters of interest/intent to a higher overall percentage.
5. Align key partners.
Using our strategic relationships, we will confirm demand, timing, pricing and other key requirements for a successful development. Indicative interest – a letter of interest/intent – at the same time, will be sought.
6. Secure financing.
We then secure project equity and debt financing negotiating better than market rates from international and/or local banks.
7. Begin development.
With the right partners, financing and tenants in place, we begin development.
From our Chairman in light of recent events:
Times like these cause us to stop, reflect and evaluate all of our motivations and endeavors. For months, we’ve been preoccupied with the coronavirus and how it has changed most of our normal life rhythms, and now we’re seeing important conversations and protests around racial discrimination and social injustice. I am reminded of why I first traveled to Ethiopia and why we ultimately started Verdant Frontiers – because all people have inherent worth and equal value regardless of gender, race or ethnicity. This belief birthed our mission to fight poverty by investing our time, money and energy towards starting large-scale businesses in Africa which create jobs and enrich local communities.
All Verdant companies, through our international and culturally-diverse teams, share a common commitment of unwavering integrity, valuing all people and treating all people with respect. We oppose oppression, discrimination, racism and injustice in all its forms.
We take great delight in the jobs that have been created to date and yet we’re reminded how much injustice and poverty continues to exist and that there is much work ahead to be done. We can do better. We’ll keep striving.