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Sky AD. Developments, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Diamond Group, plans to develop joint venture real estate projects with the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), a top company official said.
Abdelrahman Agami, CEO of Diamond Group and Sky AD, told Zawya Projects that negotiations are underway with NUCA for JV projects.
Sky AD. Developments currently has two projects in its portfolio – Residence Eight, which was launched in February 2021, and Capital Avenue, which launched in February 2022. Both projects are located in the New Administrative Capital (NAC).
Agami didn't elaborate on the JV plans but said the company is also studying investment opportunities in New Cairo, NAC, Sheikh Zayed City, and the North Coast as part of its plan to develop a real estate portfolio of 15 billion Egyptian pounds ($955 million) by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, for construction works this year, Sky AD has allocated 300 million ($19 million) for Residence Eight and 400 million ($25 million) for Capital Avenue.
Agami said the main construction of Capital Avenue is scheduled to start by mid-2022 with delivery expected to begin from the third quarter of 2025.
He said the delivery of Residence Eight units is scheduled to begin by the second quarter of 2025, adding that the project has registered 1.8 billion ($75 million) of sales revenues to date.
He also disclosed that Sky AD. Developments is setting up a new subsidiary to manage and operate Residence Eight.
Best performing market
Commenting on why the company is bullish about Egypt's real estate market, Agami pointed out that the country was the second-largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment in the Arab world and the first in Africa during the pandemic year, which represents a major vote of confidence by international investors on the country's economic reform programme, its investment environment and most importantly, its political stability.
"Foreign investment helps raise the efficiency of local real estate sector, improve its product quality, and provides access to liquidity for local developers through partnerships and acquisitions," the Sky AD Developments CEO said.
He also pointed out that foreign investors help attract overseas buyers for Egyptian real estate, which is one of the government's goals.
While praising the organisation and transparency of the land allocation process, Agami noted that the next step, given the influx of new companies into the sector, would be to establish a mechanism to track the performance of the companies and their ability to deliver projects to schedule.
He continued: "It is vital to protect the credibility and reputation of the real estate sector and the money of customers. We have an excellent experience in this regard with the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) [the master developer of NAC], where the company follows up on the progress of all projects in the NAC through periodic reports."
Agami said the Egyptian real estate market is experiencing a solid return in demand in line with the economy's recovery from the challenges of COVID-19.
"The record sales and profit achieved by the real estate sector in 2021 has motivated developers and other players in the sector to increase their investments. We expect 2022 to be the best year yet for the Egyptian real estate market compared to the previous years."
Agami pointed out that the Diamond Group, which owns Sky AD. Developments has a diverse portfolio of 17 projects worth $1 billion of investments in the UAE.
"Sky AD's vision is to satisfy the needs of the Egyptian real estate market, to produce sustainable and quality integrated communities in Egypt, as well as establish successful partnerships with customers," he concluded.
(1 US Dollar = 15.72 Egyptian Pounds)
(Reporting by Eman Hamed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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