Fairmont Marrakech set to open in 2011

The 190-room resort will be designed to offer its guests a true experience capturing the essence of Marrakech. A mix of contemporary and traditional architecture, unique amenities and details which reflect authentic expressions of Morocco will allow guests to celebrate the origins of this dynamic culture. The property will feature 5 food and beverage outlets, 13,000 sq.ft. of banquet and meeting space, including a 4,300 sq.ft. ballroom, and Fairmont Gold, the brand's exclusive lifestyle offering featuring warm and personalized service with amenities such as a private reception desk and a comfortable guest lounge. A 14,000 sq.ft. Willow Stream Spa and health club will feature 14 treatment rooms, a hammam, specialty showers, steam room, ice fountain and a variety of lounges for relaxing. The complex will also include 32 new Fairmont-branded residential villas.
Fairmont is partnering with Eden Developpement, a company headed by Simon-Xavier Guerrand Hermes, of the Hermes Luxury goods family and involved in several Real Estate development projects including the Gueliz market re-development.

via Marketwatch.com

L’élargissement de l’autoroute Casa-Rabat démarrera en 2009

Les travaux d’élargissement de l’autoroute, qui devaient initialement être entamés au cours de l’année 2008, seront finalement lancés au courant du premier trimestre 2009.
L’aménagement de cette autoroute en 2 fois 3 voies, au lieu de 2 fois 2 actuellement, consiste en fait à rajouter une voie supplémentaire de 3,5 mètres à l’intérieur dans chaque sens de la circulation pour faire face au risque de congestion que connaît déjà cette autoroute au niveau de certains points et à certaines heures de la journée. L’élargissement de l’intérieur signifie que l’on va gagner les voies supplémentaires sur le terre-plein central dont la largeur actuelle est de 20 mètres. Celle-ci sera réduite à 12 mètres une fois les travaux achevés.
Il est prévu également des réaménagements des 8 échangeurs existants (Hay Ryad, Témara, Aïn Atiq, Skhirat, Bouznika, Mohammédia Est et Ouest, Aïn Harrouda), ainsi que la construction d’un neuvième échangeur entre ceux de Mohammédia Est et Ouest pour faire face au trafic entrant et sortant que connaît la ville.
Au cours du mois d’avril dernier, par exemple, ce sont 44 500 véhicules qui ont emprunté chaque jour l’autoroute et, en certains points, notamment la barrière de péage pleine voie, le taux de saturation est élevé, ce qui rend cet élargissement impératif. La saturation du trafic, à l’échéance 2010, varierait, selon les endroits, de 2 à 5 heures par jour, sachant que le trafic augmente en moyenne de 14% par an.
Si le planning d’exécution de ce projet de 58 km n’est pas encore établi avec précision (sur le site d’ADM on parle de 2 ans), en revanche, le coût de l’aménagement est connu et devrait se situer autour de MAD 800 millions.

via La vie éco

Le Jardin de Fleur at the Gulf State Property Shows

Kicking off at the Worldwide Property Show in Dubai on October 23, Morocco’s multi award-winning Le Jardin de Fleur resorts are set to demonstrate a shared prowess for building castles from the sand with their Gulf counterparts. Part of the first and largest of the six Plan Azur coastal projects which are key to King Mohammed’s ambitious Vision 2010, Le Jardin de Fleur is sure to strike a chord in the Middle East. Fresh from victory at the influential CNBC-sponsored Arabian Property Awards 2008 where Le Jardin de Fleur scooped a trio of awards to add to the two won in 2007, the project is justifiably considered to be amongst the finest developments in the Arab world. A collection of 11 developments ranging from low-density apartments though to grandiose villas set within the macro Mediterranean-facing resort of Mediterrania Saïdia, Le Jardin de Fleur is a major contributor to Morocco’s status as a viable long-term destination for both tourist and corporate markets.
Simon Boxus, Sales Director of Le Jardin de Fleur, explains, “Le Jardin de Fleur has helped to transform a little known 6km stretch of Moroccan coastline into a world-class five-star leisure complex complete with three 18-hole golf courses, a 1,000-berth plus marina, 6km of beachfront with 17 beach clubs, a Moroccan Medina shopping experience and an equestrian centre, to name but a few".
Radisson Hotels & Resorts has selected a brace of resorts for its first foray into the Moroccan market - a 384-room five-star suite hotel and a 97 unit all-villa development. The superior division of Best Western International, the world’s largest hotel chain with over 4,000 hotels across 80 countries, Best Western Premier will be rebranding 126 apartments whilst Marrakech-based five-star hotel operator Hivernage will add its Midas touch to 76 villa residences.
Prices at the Best Western Premier Le Jardin de Fleur start from 2,255,611 MAD for a 1 bedroom penthouse whilst prices at The Hivernage Resort & Spa Saïdia start from 4,342,002 MAD for a 2 bedroom detached villa. Radisson Resort & Spa Suites is priced from 1,270,681 MAD for a 1 bedroom studio.

via Sarah Drane

Addoha buys Fadesa's Moroccan units

Moroccan property developer Douja Promotion Addoha Group has acquired the whole shares of the 2 important subsidiaries of Fadesa Morocco Group. The two units, Citaf and Optim with high-profile real estate and tourism projects in Morocco, would help Adohha expand its real estate business and boost earnings. Addoha had already owned 50% stakes in Citaf and Optim before acquiring the the remainder of their shares.
It gave no prices for the newly acquired stakes, though it had said on Dec.10 that the first 50% stakes deal was worth MAD 1.3 billions. The company is Morocco's leading real estate firm as it makes the most of a government-backed social housing drive and a boom in leisure, hotel and high-end housing projects.

via Reuters

Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI inaugure Technopolis

Les montants de MAD 2,755 milliards pour les travaux de construction et de MAD 559 millions pour l'aménagement ont été mobilisés pour ce projet édifié sur une superficie de 107 hectares,mais qui s'étendra à terme sur 300 hectares et mettra en œuvre la nouvelle vocation de Rabat-Salé dans le secteur des nouvelles technologies dans le cadre du plan Emergence
Créée dans le cadre d'un partenariat entre la Caisse de dépôt et de gestion (CDG), le ministère de l'Industrie, du Commerce et des nouvelles Technologies et la wilaya de Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaers, la Cité de la Technologie bénéficie d'un aménagement novateur et aéré, d'infrastructures et d'une gestion alignées sur les meilleurs standards internationaux pour en faire une destination privilégiée pour les investissements et les projets liés aux secteurs des nouvelles technologies.
Technopolis, qui va contribuer à la création de 30.000 nouveaux emplois à l'horizon 2013, fait partie du réseau des parcs en cours de mise en place par MEDZ, appelés à créer de nouveaux potentiels économiques permettant une croissance soutenue du pays.

via Le Matin

Dubai firm buys plot in an equestrian resort property in Morocco

A Dubai-based equine business solutions company, Equine Management Services (EMS), closed a big real estate property deal with Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH). This will see EMS buying close to 40% of the purchasable land at Royal Ranches Marrakech, one of GFH's main real estate projects in Morocco.
Royal Ranches Marrakech Chairman Esam Janahi said, "Royal Ranches Marrakech has been designed as a world class equestrian resort which fuses the luxuries of a five star resort with an advanced wildlife haven, and Equine Management Services bring with them vast experience in this arena. Their involvement will enrich the whole initiative and offer a truly unique experience for equestrian enthusiasts the world over."
Royal Ranches Marrakech real estate property is situated in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and has the propensity to become one of the world's first five star Equestrian Resorts. EMS have track record of establishing unique equestrian communities and are best known for the Escape equestrian property currently under development in the UAE emirate of Ajman.

via Go Wealthy

African property boom drying up

Morocco has seen a property market boom over the last few years fuelling its national economy and stock markets. Only last week, the Moroccan stock exchange had to suspend the shares of property firm Addoha, following an uncontrolled drop in its value. Despite what sounded a really encouraging result - net profits had increased by 40% - the market was deeply disappointed by the company's result.
Moroccan property development is doubly hit by the global financial crisis. First, foreign investments in this capital intensive sector are drying up as cash becomes harder to get on global markets. Second, the typical buyers of Moroccan property are Europeans looking for a holiday home in the pleasant North African climate, but these are now insecure about their personal economy and also have less access to credits. Analysts therefore fear that foreign property buyers will postpone their decision to buy.
The American and European middle class, according to market research, already plans to make fewer short holiday trips, while hoping to be able to afford one long summer vacation, looking for reasonable offers. For the American middle class public, this would in most cases rule out an Africa trip. For Europeans, sub-Saharan Africa and in particular the Indian Ocean may currently seem too luxuriously, already creating fears in the tourism industry in countries such as Tanzania and Mauritius.
However, North Africa may still be very competitive in the 2009 season. The region already has seen great market gains during the last years and may stay a winner among Europeans. Flights to North Africa remain relatively cheap and as holiday destinations, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt are considered the cheapest places to stay, eat and drink well for European travellers.

via afrol News

Government to shake up troubled rental housing sector

According to a government study released on September 24th, Morocco faces a shortage of developers in both the public and private rental housing sectors, few financial and legal incentives for people to rent and an ill-defined and mutually-suspicious relationship between landlords and tenants.
The government is proposing a 20% cut in the level of taxation on rent and the total elimination of tax paid by small landlords on their rental income. 70% of landlords would like to see the tax breaks available in the property sector extended to the rental sector. The tax changes also support Morocco's new scheme for expanded social housing. The plan would give higher tax allowances for profits earned from homes rented to low-income families, tax breaks for rental-sector investments and subsidised long-term loans for the construction of affordable rental housing.
Housing, Town Planning and Development Minister Ahmed Taoufik Hejira has high hopes that these proposals will restore trust between real-estate investors and potential tenants in order to fill some 163,000 currently empty rental properties. Formalising the rental contract will also protect tenants. Some landlords are unofficially leasing their properties in order to avoid paying tax, leaving renters with no legal protection.

via magharebia.com

Abu Dhabi Investment House to set up $1 billion Style City project

ADIH announced the commencement of infrastructural work of the last phase for its project called Porta Moda Marrakesh in Morocco. The project's total cost is approximately $1 billion and will be developed on a total area of more than 306,000 square metres, located 7km from the city's airport.
The project encapsulates the idea of redefining quality of living and streamlined education. The concept's main elements which will be implemented within Porta Moda Marrakech include luxury living, culture, fine dining, exclusive retail shopping, fashion and design education, renowned boutique spas and resorts, entertainment - all with a concentration of style and fashion. Porta Moda Marrakesh, like all other Porta Modas ADIH intends to launch internationally, is designed to be established as the hub of fashion and style within Morocco and the area surrounding it and given its geographical proximity to Europe and the Middle East altogether.
Fawaz Ali Al Jowder, Deputy CEO ADIH said: "We have already started the infrastructural work for the last phase of this exciting project in Marrakech... We have on-board a highly professional team including international experts in master-planning, development and consultancy in the field".

via MENAFN

El Alami Holding: Partenariat avec Oberoi Hotels !

El Alami Holding qui est un groupe marocain opérant dans l'immobilier et l'industrie, vient de signer un accord avec le Groupe indien « Oberoi Hotels et Resorts » portant sur le développement et la gestion d'un complexe touristique de grand luxe à Marrakech pour un investissement global de MAD 600 millions.
Au terme de cet accord de partenariat, signé par le président du groupe marocain, Abdelouahed El Alami et le président de la chaîne hôtelière indienne, M. P.R.S Oberoi, les deux parties auront à développer et à gérer un hôtel de luxe de 90 suites hors catégorie et de 50 villas sur un terrain de 30 hectares à Marrakech. Les travaux seront lancés au premier semestre 2009 et dureront 3 ans.

via Le Reporter