Plaza

In Nigeria, "plaza" is the everyday word for a commercial building divided into many units and let to different businesses, not the open public square the word means elsewhere. A plaza can be a low block of lock-up shops on a main road, a building with shops on the ground floor and offices above, or a large shopping complex built around a supermarket. The biggest enclosed ones are usually called malls.

What you find on this list page. Listings here are of two kinds:

• Whole buildings for sale or rent, aimed at investors who want rent from many tenants, or at a single business that will occupy the lot.
• Space within a plaza, such as a floor or a block of units. Single shops are usually listed under shops, and single offices under offices.

How a plaza is run. The owner, or a facility manager it appoints, lets the units, collects rent and a service charge, and runs the shared services: security, cleaning, common-area power, water, waste and parking. Tenants usually pay for their own unit's electricity through separate meters.

The law in Lagos. The Lagos Tenancy Law's definition of business premises names shopping malls as well as shops and offices, and the Law applies outside the exempt areas of Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. For a plaza owner that means duties to tenants, such as keeping the exterior and common parts in repair and not disrupting their trade, and giving receipts and regular written accounts for service charges.

Approvals. Many plazas began as houses on busy roads that were converted or rebuilt. In Lagos, turning a residential building to commercial use needs approval from the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, and the authority has warned that unapproved conversions attract penalties. Enforcement against a plaza affects every tenant in it.

Buying a plaza. A plaza's value rests on its title, its approvals and its rent roll: who the tenants are, what they pay, how long their leases run and what is owed. Treat the asking price as a starting point until those have been checked.

• Lagos: plazas line the main roads of the mainland, in areas such as Ikeja, Surulere and Yaba, and the Lekki–Ajah corridor.
• Abuja: plazas and shopping complexes are common in Wuse, Garki and Utako, often with offices on the upper floors.