“Build the thing that reveals what the city is becoming — not what it is today.”— Gerald D. Hines (1925–2020) · Lagos, Nigeria · February 2009
1970
The Galleria — Houston, Texas
Gerald D. Hines builds on Post Oak Boulevard — an underpriced corridor the market has overlooked. The principle he establishes: build for what the city is becoming, not what it is today.
2009
Lagos, Nigeria — Hines’ only Africa visit
Olawale Opayinka organises a two-day Lagos engagement for Gerald D. Hines, with Bismarck Rewane — Nigeria’s pre-eminent independent economist — invited specifically to brief Hines on Nigeria’s economic landscape and development trajectory. The delegation conducts structured site evaluations and holds extended meetings with senior political leadership, including the man who is now the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The conclusion: EAC represents the same opportunity that Post Oak Boulevard represented for Houston in 1970.
2013
5,000,000 m² Dedication Ceremony
The ceremony marking the reclamation of five million square metres of EAC — one of the defining moments in the city’s history — is delivered by Olawale. In attendance: the President of Nigeria, the 42nd President of the United States, and the Governor of Lagos State.
2017–2021
Azuri Towers — the heritage built
The project that validated the 2009 belief. Commissioned December 2021. Nigeria’s tallest residential tower, delivered on schedule through a pandemic.
2024
Makaya Consult FZE
The advisory firm that carries the Hines heritage forward. The developer who understood EAC’s future in 2009 now advises yours.
