Palm Hills Development (PHDC.CA) and Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA) has signed a EGP 400 million ($ 57.2 million) contract to develop a phase in one of Palm Hills’ projects in 6th of October City, Anadolu Agency reported. An official source in Palm Hills, who demanded anonymity, stated that this contract is included in company’s expansion plan and to prove its commitment before clients as well. He added that, the contract was signed three days ago in order to finalize the sixth phase of Palm Hills’ project. More»

Egyptian property developer SODIC (Sixth of October Development & Investment Company) (OCDI.CA) said on Wednesday it made a net profit of 257 million Egyptian pounds ($38.1 million)in 2012 after a net loss in 2011. The company's net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was 125 million pounds, it said in a statement, without giving a comparative figure for the same period in 2011. Egypt's real estate industry was thrown into turmoil after a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, hitting demand for high-end property. SODIC has been spared much of the legal uncertainty over land bank ownership that damaged investor confidence in the sector since the revolt. An agreement with authorities in March last year to develop projects on its land bank in West Cairo within three years protected SODIC's assets from possible legal challenges. The company said it made contracted sales of 347 million pounds in the fourth quarter of 2012, and total revenues of 564 million pounds in the same period. More»

Egypt's New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) has decided to offer new facilities for the winners of lands plot in the Social Housing Program for the first, second and third public draw. NUCA further added in a statement released on Thursday that the new facilities include granting those winners a one-month timeline so as to submit post-dated checks and to finalized all the required procedures including the issuance of the building licenses before the data of 04/05/2013. For the Social Housing Program winners for the third draw, NUCA decided to grant a one-month deadline to pay back the deposit and submit the post-dated checks alongside resuming the required procedures  including the issuance of the building licenses before the data of 04/05/2013. More»

Dr. Tarek Wafik, Egyptian Minister of Housing and Urban Communities, said the ministry is about to finalize the draft law of the Developing Suez Canal Axis establishment. Wafik noted that the draft law will be submitted to the Cabinet next Wednesday. During his keynote speech before the Shura Council’s Transport Committe, the minister added that the overall features of the new draft law focuses on granting the new Developing Suez Canal Axis more flexibility to create a competitive center. The new Developing Suez Canal Axis shall organize the work in this region. Dr. Tarek has confirmed that there will be no discrepancy among the responsibilities assumed by the Developing Suez Canal Axis, Ministries of Internal Affairs, Defense and of Justice. The minister also emphasized during the seminar held by the German Chamber on Tuesday - that the Suez Canal Development project will achieve revenues up to US$ 100 billion annually, which will contribute in solving many economic crises dogging Egypt. More»

The UAE-based international real estate firm, Al-Futtaim Group has started the preparations for conducting initial studies on its new project ‘Cairo Gate’, said the General Manager Mohamed El Mikawi. Mikawi noted that the studies on Al-Futtaim’s new project likely to be completed by next June. He further added that ‘Cairo Gate’ is a commercial compound located in the 6th of October – Cairo-Alexandria desert highway. It is planned to develop ‘Cairo Gate’ project through a joint venture with UAE-based Emaar within the coming period after the completion of the studies. Mikawi stated that the studies on ‘Cairo Gate’ shall determine the investment cost alongside the schedule of each phase of the project. Elsewhere, Mikawi told Amwal Al Ghad that Al-Futtaim has injected non-stop investments worth around EGP 5 billion for its project  ‘Cairo Festival City’ since the inception up till now, despite the current instability the Egyptian market is facing nowadays. More»

SODIC (Sixth of October Development & Investment Company) (OCDI.CA) announced on Sunday an agreement worth EGP 79 million with Juhayna Food Industries Co. (JUFO.CA) providing Juhayna with an entire building, comprising of 7,016 sqm in SODIC's the Polygon Business Park. The location will be used by Juhayna as the new premises of their headquarters. The announcement was made by Maher Maksoud, Managing Director, SODIC and Safwan Thabet, Chairman and Managing Director, Juhayna, on location at The Polygon. The Polygon is conveniently located on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road and is among the neighborhoods of Westown, which is designed to be the urban heart of SODIC West. SODIC West is the largest planned mixed-use development in Egypt's Sheikh Zayed area and is double the size of Zamalek, boasting 3,000 residents today and a catchment area of 60,000 people. SODIC West also benefits from government-led investments in transportation systems and infrastructure such as the 26th of July Mehwar and the soon to be developed Rod El Farag highway. Commenting on the agreement, Maher Maksoud, Managing Director, SODIC, said "We are proud that The Polygon will now be home to one of Egypt's home-grown business champions. Juhayna is a respected company and we believe that other impressive institutions will follow suit." More»

Eng. Nabil Abbas, First Deputy Chairman of New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), has denied the exit of United Arab Emirates’ firms from the real estate market after the initial agreement on settling debts and resolving outstanding problems. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed City, being built in New Cairo with a grant from the President of the United Arab Emirates, is in the agreement phase, he noted. Abbas warned of a plot to strike the economy with the aim of raising the prices of lands through speculation at auctions, pointing out that he has given instructions for the new city authorities to stop selling lands through auctions until implementing a new mechanism to sell lands because the prices paid at auctions do not represent the nominal value of the lands, according to Al Gomhuria. During the inauguration of Investors and Citizens Services Center in 15th of May City by the Minister of State for Administrative Development Dr. Ahmed Samir and Nabil Abbas, the Minister stated that the aim of the project is developing the state’s administrative body and saving citizens’ time during asking for services. More»

EMAAR Properties PJSC, the global property developer, has further strengthened its portfolio of premium hotels, residences and serviced apartments in Downtown Dubai, the most visited tourism and lifestyle destination in the world, with the launch of The Address Residence Sky View, the latest addition to The Address Hotel + Resorts' portfolio and a flagship property for the brand. A striking 50-storey hotel, residence and serviced apartment twin-tower complex atop a grand podium, designed by the architects of Burj Khalifa, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, The Address Residence Sky View is set to become another compelling landmark in the city and a notional gateway to Downtown Dubai. The towers serve as a perfect complement to the thriving world-class lifestyle in Downtown Dubai, described as the most prestigious square kilometer on earth and "The Centre of Now." It will be linked directly to the Dubai Metro and The Dubai Mall via the new air-conditioned travelator. More»

While the UAE real estate market still faces a challenging scenario of oversupply; C there is room for tentative optimism.According to lan Robertson, CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle MENA, "The foundations are being laid for a recovery from 2014, with a number of major infrastructure projects scheduled to start later this year. We also expect the real-estate in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai to benefit from increased economic activity between the UAE and East Asia, specifically China and South Korea, as well as sub Saharan Africa and Australia." Real estate advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle's Q4 2012 Dubai Real-Estate Overview reported promising signs of recovery from the end of last year in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with upward prices in the residential, retail and hotel sectors. These were coupled with stimulus packages, as well as UAE Central Bank mortgage loan-to-value caps to curb market fluctuations. According to the latest figures from Ventures ONSITE, the UAE has a value of projects planned, under tender, under construction or on hold, of $900,953m. Likewise, project values for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are $673,490m, Qatar $108,063m and Kuwait $142,924m.This positive outlook sets the platform for Cityscape Abu Dhabi and ecoConstruct Expo 2013 - held concurrently over three days from 16 -18 April at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. More»

Egypt's Amer Group (AMER.CA) will implement a 250-million-U.S. dollar tourism project in the Dead Sea area in Jordan. Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday met with leading Egyptian businessman and chairman of Amer Group, Mansour Amer, and told him that his government had given the go-ahead to Porto Dead Sea, a $250 million tourist project on dead Sea shores, the state-run Petra news agency reported.The venture on the Dead Sea's eastern beach comprises construction of a five-star hotel, villas and apartments -- 3,000 rooms in total -- plus a mall, tourist facilities including shopping outlets, restaurants and coffee shops, swimming pools, a state-of-the-art health resort and various sports fields.During the meeting, attended by the ministerial economic development committee, Ensour welcomed "this qualitative investment" at the Dead Sea, which will generate about 3,000 jobs to Jordanians, pledging that the government will provide all facilities and remove any obstacles facing implementation. More»