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29 March 2024

Solidere plans eco project in Turkey

Published
By Agencies

(AFP)   


 

Lebanese real estate developer Solidere is studying new projects in Turkey, Oman, Egypt and North Africa, a senior official at the company’s international arm said yesterday.

 

“We are looking into an ecological tourism development project with the Turkish Government,” Mounib Hammoud, executive director of Dubai-based Solidere International, said.

 

Hammoud said his company, which was established in July 2007 with the aim to make Solidere a regional real estate developer on both sides of the Mediterranean, plans to expand from Oman to North Africa.

 

Hammoud did not provide any information on the expected capital expenditure to finance these projects.

 

Solidere was founded in 1994 by then-prime minister Rafik Al Hariri and is seen as the most important force behind Beirut’s re-emergence after the 1975-1990 civil war. It is listed on Beirut and Kuwait stock exchanges.

 

The firm, which has a market capitalisation of $3.53 billion (Dh12.9bn), has a partnership with the Government of Ajman and has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia, where it is also expanding its projects.

 

“We are currently working on a large project in the main spine of the Saudi capital, which we did not announce before,” Hammoud said.

 

He added that a number of other projects are under consideration in Egypt, where Solidere has a strategic partnership with the Egyptian property developer Sixth of October Investment and Development (Sodic).

 

Solidere International and Sodic are developing two mixed-use city centres in the suburbs of Cairo, WesTown, on the highway between Cairo and Alexandria and EasTown in Kattameya, an eastern Cairo suburb.

 

“We are currently working on the master plan and are awaiting government authorisation,” Hammoud said.

 

“We expect to build the infrastructure of the two projects during this year and hopefully buyers will start to move in within three years’ time,” he added.

 

Hammoud estimated the cost of investment in the two projects at 26 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh17.3bn) and the expected sales value at 35bn Egyptian pounds.


“Although these are conservative estimations,” he said. (Reuters)