The City of Light Appolonia, a Real Estate Developer in Ghana, says it would release about 500 housing units by December 2015, to help resolve accommodation problems in the country.

It said it had reached an advanced stage in the provision of accommodation to meet the needs of the Ghanaian Community at all levels, whether in the high or low income group.

Addressing the media on the project in Accra, Mr Anthony Okyere, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the completion of the 500 units would fall under the first phase of the 22,000 housing units project.

Mr Okyere disclosed that the organisation had acquired a total of 941 hectares of land at Appolonia, a community in the Kpone Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region for the project, where 2,300 acres forming about 30 per cent had been earmarked for parks, gardens and other recreational facilities for the comfort of residents.

Under the project which had already taken shape, there would be the provision of residential, commercial, industrial health care and leisure facilities, to meet the level of all groups within and outside the Appolonia community.

Mr Okyere, said the facilities would be integrated with schools, retail facilities and family parks, adding that it was a partnership with Rendeavour, Africa’s leading Urban Land Developer, in collaboration with the chiefs, leaders and residents of the Appolonia community.

“ The project is designed to help create the infrastructure, such as the living and working spaces, communities, schools and hospitals that will help sustain and accelerate Ghana’’s economic growth, meet the aspirations of Ghanaians especially those in the middle class and serve as a catalyst for further urban development”.

“As the largest private urban development and the first of its kind in Ghana, the project will significantly help address the housing challenges confronting the country,' Mr Okyere said.

He said a unique feature about the project was the “Buy and Build Concept, ” under which customers could acquire a piece of land in the project catchment area, and construct the facilities themselves, but with the project specifications.

In addition other developers were allowed to build for their customers after acquiring the land from the project site.

'Currently, we are undertaking a number of Corporate Social Responsibility activities within the community, including the provision of National Health Insurance cards for the inhabitants, the renovation of the community Health Centre, as well as the provision of a maternity wing for the health facility,' the CEO intimated.

The City of Light Appolonia has also earmarked a site for the construction of a new palace for the local chief, a community centre, and a durbar ground for the people.

Mr Okyere said the company had already put up a lot of infrastructure on the ground, and invited interested groups, individuals, and estate developers, to patronise the facility which had been programmed to meet international standards.