Pierre & Vacances voit de plus en plus grand au Maroc

«Nous sommes la tortue du tourisme français au Maroc. Mais quelques fois, les lièvres partent les premiers et ils s'essoufflent près du but», a plaisanté Gérard Brémond, président du groupe.
Il signait mercredi à l'ambassade du Maroc à Paris un accord de partenariat avec la Caisse des dépôts et de gestion du Maroc qui finance l'essentiel du projet. Les grandes entreprises françaises du tourisme et de l'hôtellerie (Club Med, Fram, Marmara, Nouvelles Frontières, Jet Tours, Thomas Cook, Look Voyages…) ont déjà tous leur carnet d'adresses. À commencer par Accor, premier groupe hôtelier du pays avec 29 hôtels situés dans 13 villes du royaume (soit plus de 4,000 chambres à fin février). Au Maroc depuis 1997, le groupe vient d'inaugurer un Suitehotel à Marrakech. Il vise une quarantaine d'hôtels à l'horizon 2015. Tout juste arrivé, le Groupe Lucien Barrière vient, lui, d'inaugurer son premier hôtel de luxe hors de France à Marrakech. Pourtant, Gérard Brémond estime qu'il a une carte à jouer. «Le concept de résidence de tourisme est pratiquement inexistant au Maroc, explique-t-il. Il y avait une place à prendre.» Tel qu'il l'avait présenté en avril 2008 avant de conclure un accord avec la Caisse des dépôts et de gestion du Maroc, Pierre & Vacances prévoyait la création de 10,000 lits. Finalement, ce sera 15,000. Ce qui correspond à la construction de 3,000 maisons et appartements (dont 930 à Marrakech). Pour l'essentiel, il s'agit de résidences de tourisme et de vacances, dont 480 (200 à l'enseigne MGM et 280 Pierre & Vacances). L'endroit, baptisé Oasis Eco Resort, sera situé à 10km à vol d'oiseau de Marrakech. Sur le même terrain, 450 autres résidences secondaires pourront être achetées en pleine propriété par des particuliers (dont 100 réservées à des seniors).

via Le Figaro

Alliances acquiert deux leaders du BTP

Il faut chercher la croissance là où elle se trouve. Pour Mohamed Alami Lazrak, PDG du groupe Alliances développement immobilier (ADI), elle se niche chez les industriels du BTP. C’est la raison pour laquelle ADI s’est alliée au Moroccan Infrastructure Fund pour acquérir 95 % de l’Entreprise marocain des travaux (EMT, une des trois entreprises à avoir décroché le marché des barrages au Maroc) et 95 % de Somadiaz (spécialisée dans le levage, les transports spéciaux et la location de matériel de BTP).
La part du groupe ADI dans ces entreprises s’élève à 69%. Autant des 2,3 MdDH qu’affichent leurs prévisions de chiffre d’affaires. Concrètement, 800 MDH se trouvent chez Somadiaz et 1,5 MdDH chez EMT. Un joli coup pour ADI !

via LeTemps.ma

Barcelo opens in Saidia

The Majorcan hotel group Barcelo has opened a 5 star hotel in the Mediterranea Saïdia, located in a natural park 70 km from Melilla with 8 km of beaches. The hotel featuring 614 rooms surrounded by an 18 hole golf course and in which 60 million euros have been invested, belongs to the Moroccan H-Partners and will be managed by the Maiorca hotel chain, already present in Morocco with the hotel Barcelo Casablanca and planning to open 2 more hotels in Fez and Marrakech over the next 2 years.

Morocco'mall avance selon le calendrier prévu

Lamiaa Adlaoui, responsable communication confirme que les zones commerciales seront disponibles au cours du deuxième semestre 2010 pour terminer l'aménagement intérieur et la décoration des zones privatives. Il est à noter que le Morocco'mall compte actuellement plusieurs partenaires techniques tels que SGTM, entreprises des gros œuvres, Design International en tant qu'architecte designer et Oger International pour la gestion du projet. Outre les collaborateurs techniques, ce mégaprojet a pu séduire plusieurs marques internationales. Aujourd'hui, il compte 110 enseignes hors luxe. Rappelons que les Galeries Lafayette ont choisi de se réinstaller à Casablanca grâce au Moroccco'mall. Dans ce cadre, les deux partenaires ont conclu en mois de Novembre 2008 un accord sous la forme d'une franchise exclusive sur le territoire national.
Ainsi, la capitale économique se positionnera réellement comme capitale de la mode et du divertissement, mais aussi comme hub économique en Afrique. Sur les 5,000 emplois directs que génèrera le projet, les Galeries Lafayette représenteront à elles seules 400 emplois. En outre, des concepts marocains relevant de différents secteurs d'activités seront présents au fameux projet.
Il est à noter que le Morocco'mall a la tâche de véhiculer une nouvelle image de la ville de Casablanca en lui appropriant le titre de la nouvelle destination de shopping au niveau mondial et la première au niveau continental. Riche d'un programme de divertissement et d'animation varié, le projet promet d'être une destination de choix à la fois pour l'ensemble de la population marocaine et les visiteurs internationaux. En plus d'un centre commercial, ce mégaprojet présentera des activités originales proposées pour la première fois au Maroc, à savoir le Dolphin Show et le Cinéma en 3D.
Morocco'Mall est le fruit d'une alliance entre deux groupes de renom spécialisés dans les secteurs de la distribution. Il s'agit du Groupe Aksal et Nesk investment. Les deux partenaires, leaders dans leurs activités au Maroc, ont capitalisé sur leurs expériences respectives et ont uni leurs efforts pour proposer un concept innovant. D'un coût de 2 MMDH, le Morocco'Mall ouvrira ses portes en 2010 à Casablanca. D'une architecture avant-gardiste, il accueillera sur plus de 10 hectares des enseignes de renommée mondiale, tous secteurs confondus : mode, décoration, équipement de la maison, artisanat, alimentation... Un véritable temple de la consommation où plus de 70,000 m² sont réservés aux commerces et aux marques.

via Le Matin

Le Maroc exportateur de villes nouvelles

La CDG et la société jordanienne Mawared ont signé, dimanche dernier à Amman, un accord portant sur la construction d’une ville nouvelle, située à 20 km d’Amman. Le holding créé l’année dernière entre les deux groupes sera chargé de réaliser une importante partie de la ville, et de la doter des infrastructures nécessaires. Rappelons que le Maroc est déjà présent dans quelques pays pour y édifier des villes nouvelles. En Libye, en Egypte ou en Guinée Equatoriale, le Royaume, à travers ses développeurs, notamment le Groupe de Miloud Chaâbi, a fait sortir de terre des villes nouvelles et s’apprête à en sortir d’autres au Gabon, au Sénégal et au Cameroun.

via Gazette du Maroc

Morocco affordable housing a guide for the UAE

All property players in UAE agree on one thing: there is a need for more affordable housing. In Abu Dhabi in particular, the issue has been neglected until recently, with most of the 140,000 residential units scheduled for delivery by 2013 being high-end accommodation, according to Colliers International. But following the slowdown in the property market, developers, including Al Qudra, Aldar and Sorouh, have announced strategy changes to address the needs of the low-priced segment, too. Other markets in the Middle East have managed to turn the housing needs of low and middle-income earners into a lucrative niche. And Abu Dhabi could do worse than to look at Morocco, where developers who focus on affordable housing still make good money and their order books are full, in spite of the global crisis. Anas Sefrioui, the chairman and founder of Addoha, Morocco’s largest developer, is confident. His company, the first to be listed on the Casablanca stock exchange since 2006, is now on the top of the list. Around 77% of its activity is based on low and mid-income housing. And yet, Addoha’s revenue last year increased 57% to MAD 4.7 billion, compared with MAD 3 billion in 2007.
According to the Moroccan ministry of housing and urban planning, the undersupply of homes exceeds 1 million and each year 123,000 new families enter the market. Around 60% of the population is under the age of 30. Five years ago, the government launched a programme aimed at reducing the number of shanty towns and sub-standard dwellings and to ease the housing shortage by 25% in 2012. Access to land is a major catalyst. Last January, developers willing to build affordable housing were offered a total of 3,853 hectares of land at a reduced price to build 200,000 units. The conditions: they have to sell the flats for only 140,000 Moroccan dirhams on 1/3 of the allocated land and for 200,000 dirhams on 1/3. On the last 1/3 of the land, developers are allowed to build other types of properties and make margins. But the key factor that boosted the market is an enticing financial policy that involves all industry players. Banks today not only continue lending to people with no regular incomes but they do so at a reasonable rate – 5.5% fixed rates for up to 25 years. The secret is a system of guaranteed funds established by the government 4 years ago, backed mainly by taxes on cement companies. Fogarim, a security fund, enabled more than 48,000 families with low and irregular incomes to take out low-interest loans and buy homes. The amount of guaranteed mortgages so far is MAD 7 billion.
According to figures from the ministry of housing, Fogarim’s main beneficiaries are traders (41%), followed by street vendors (23%), craft workers (16%), taxi drivers (4.2%), maids (3.7%) and labourers (3.3%). The scheme was soon followed by other funds linked to specific professions. To qualify for the Fogarim programme and tax breaks, developers have to build at least 2,500 affordable housing units over 5 years, which are sold at less than MAD 200,000. “In the beginning, cement companies were complaining because they had to pay MAD 100 tax per tonne – which brings around MAD 2 billion a year into the fund,” says Mr Ben Bachir. “But now everybody is happy. Banks are lending because of the lower risk. People are buying because they get the finance, developers are building more affordable housing because of the advantages they get and the demand, and cement companies sell much higher volumes. The system does not even cost the government a lot of money.”
In Morocco, banks are not allowed to lend in excess of 50% of a family or an individual’s revenue. The credit risk rate is less than 1% and Moroccan banks have increased their total income by nearly 5% during the first 4 months compared with the same period last year. According to Youssef Ibn Mansour, the chairman of the National Federation of Property Developers in Morocco, the market boomed because of low-income housing. Until the mid-nineties, only the government was taking care of it. But when private companies were invited to enter the market this created a dynamic that attracted huge capital. We went from 30,000 to 40,000 units built a year to 125,000 units last year. Of this, 25,000 units are built for mid-incomes. The high-end segment only represent 5% to 6% of what is being built in Morocco.
Addoha, along with the state company Al Omrane, makes up about 40% of the low-income market, followed by a dozen smaller groups including Chaâbi and Jet Sakane. Two UAE property companies also got involved. Al Qudra, which recently announced its focus on affordable housing in Al Ain, joined Addoha to build 359 villas in Tamesna, a town in Morocco, half of which should be delivered this year and the rest next year. With the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Addoha last month launched a project to construct 17,000 units in the Moroccan town of Kenitra, including low and mid-income flats, along with villas and a golf course.
“It is profitable if you have good volumes,” says Mr Sefrioui. “Addoha builds 22,000 units every year, of which 2,000 only are high-end projects.” Mr Ibn Mansour recognises that the MAD 140,000 units are products with no margin. “Developers in that case are allowed to build expensive units on one third of their granted land but most of them today go for the MAD 300,000 units and accept paying additional taxes.”
The other question is the quality of the housing. “These are mainly blocks of flats worse than Paris outskirts. It can look really depressing,” says William Simoncelli, the director of Agence immobilière Carre Immobilier Maroc, a brokerage company based in Casablanca.
The programme though has been extended to other income segments. After years of focusing on housing for Morocco’s low-income population, the government is faced with a new problem: home ownership is out of reach for much of the middle class. Land prices have skyrocketed and driven many middle-income families to buy social housing. Having proved successful, Fogarim has been expanded to include private-sector workers with regular salaries. Existing funds were merged in April to form Damane Assakane, which guarantees mortgages up to MAD 800,000.

via The National

Abu Dhabi Firms to Invest $2b in Morocco Projects

Two Abu Dhabi-based companies have agreed to invest a total of almost $2 billion in Morocco, one in a 700-megawatt power plant expansion and the other in a mixed-use real estate project. The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, or TAQA, plans to invest $1.2 billion to increase generating capacity at its Jorf Lasfar electricity plant in the city of Fez. Property firm Al Maabar International Investments, meanwhile, has broken ground on a $750 million development in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The companies announced their agreements on Wednesday during a three-day visit to Morocco by General Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
General Shaikh Mohammed chaired a signing ceremony for the power plant expansion in Fez. He also joined the ground-breaking of the real estate project together with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Crown Prince Moulay Rachid. Al Maabar International Investments launched the next phase of its Bab Al Bahr mixed-use development in Rabat on Tuesday. The project, located near the Bouregreg River and the Atlantic Ocean, is set for completion in 2012. The project will have access to Rabat’s marina and overlooks national landmarks including the Grand Mosque of Sale, the Old Mosque of Casbah, and the Minaret Hassan. Al Maabar is developing it in a joint venture with L’Agence pour le Développement de Bouregreg of Morocco.
Al Maabar is joint venture between six Abu Dhabi investment companies: Mubadala, Al Dar Properties, Sorouh Real Estate, Reem Investments, Reem International and Al Qudra Holdings. It also has projects underway in Qatar, Jordan, Libya and Iraq.

via Khaleej Times

NorAH signs prestigious deal with Marrakech destination

Kuwait based investment company, North Africa Holding Company, announced a new partnership deal with the promoters and developers of the Euro 170 million Assoufid real estate project in Marrakech today. The new co-operation represents a significant milestone in North Africa Holdings' expansion plans into the Maghreb region, through the development of an exclusive, high end residential, hotel and golf venue in Marrakech.
A few minutes away from the old city, Assoufid is situated on 220 hectares of undulating desert countryside affording spectacular 360° views over the snowcapped Atlas Mountains and the surrounding countryside. This haven of peace and tranquility includes an exclusive, private 18 hole golf course and golf academy, 90 majestic properties with unique architectural designs, and a 98 suite palace boutique hotel and spa, which along with selected villas, is to be managed as part of the prestigious, internationally renowned Rocco Forte Collection. Once completed, the resort will become one of the most luxurious and desirable residential locations, and leisure destinations in this part of the world.

via zawya.com