Fortune enters Romania with two projects

The commercial launch of the two projects is expected to take place early next year.

Fortune Group, which has invested more than Dh7 billion in commercial and residential projects in Dubai, will develop the two projects jointly with Sadek Architects.

 

The first project will be a waterfront residential-cum-commercial development located in southern Romania, spread over 6 million square feet, comprising apartments, a five-star hotel and high-end wellness components.

 

The second project in the north will be a residential development set amidst golf courses and ski slopes with the Transylvanian mountain range as a backdrop. Both the projects are located in popular tourist spots in Romania.

 

“Both the projects will be targeted towards the expatriate community. Many British, French and Italian property buyers have evinced interest in our project, but we are keen on attracting GCC nationals as well. Though Romania remains a rather untapped market, many GCC nationals, including Emiratis, have been buying property in Europe,” said CEO Fortune Group Syed Mohammad Ali.

“We were determined to enter the European real estate market with a massive project because for a developer the learning curve is independent of the project’s size. We prefer establishing a strong presence through mega projects in one country rather than announcing insignificant developments all around the world.

“The decision to invest in Romania was taken after a two-year study of the market conditions in the country,” Ali added.

Investments by Middle East investors into the European real estate sector touched four billion euros (Dh22bn) in the middle of 2007 and it is estimated to reach 10 billion euros in 2009-10. Romania’s property market is buoyant and prices have been rising at an average rate of 25 per cent since 2003. It is also attracting a large number of overseas investors.

“The time is opportune to invest in Romania, the country has been pledged financial and infrastructural support by the European Union after it became a member of the Union. Through our projects we want to attract real estate investors from the GCC to this high potential market,” he said.