Dubai-based Emaar Properties is investing 3.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($216 million) in hospitality projects in the Arab country's North Coast area along the Mediterranean Sea.

The company's Egyptian subsidiary Emaar Misr said on Monday that it had awarded construction contracts for the five-star Address Beach Resort with 126 rooms and 166 hotel apartments and the four-star Vida Marina Hotel with 93 rooms and 122 hotel apartments.

Both projects are located at the Sidi Abdelrahman bay area, which hosts the company's 950 million pounds ($60 million) Address Marassi Golf Resort, opened in July 2020, and the 1.5 billion pounds ($95 million) Al Alamein Hotel, re-opened in July 2018.

The four hotels form part of the nine hotels that Emaar has planned for the North Coast.

Emaar Properties Managing Director Mohamed Alabbar told Zawya Projects that Vida Marina is the first Vida-branded hotel to be launched outside the UAE.

"We plan to complete the two hotels in 35 months from now. We are planning to launch an Address-branded hotel in Cairo, and details would be disclosed soon," he added.

Hassan Allam Construction will build the Address Beach Resort with a construction value of 1.2 billion pounds ($76 million), while Orascom Construction will build Vida Marina with a construction value of one billion pounds ($63.6 million).

Hassan Allam, Chairman, Hassan Allam Construction, told Zawya Projects that the company would partner with Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) to build the beach resort on a turn-key basis.

Alabbar said the company is looking for new opportunities in Cairo, Alexandria, and the New Administrative Capital.

"Despite the economic crisis that the world is going through due to COVID-19, the Egyptian real estate sector and urbanization have never stopped," he said, adding that when Emaar decided to expand and inaugurate properties outside the UAE, its first choice was Egypt as the country is a global tourist destination with strong growth potential.

Emaar Properties has invested 200 billion pounds ($12.7 billion) in Egypt to date, including a 55 billion ($3.5 billion) investment in Marassi and 11.5 billion ($731 million) in Cairo Gate, according to a July 2020 press statement. The statement had indicated that the company's investments in its Sheikh Zayed land are likely to grow to 37.8 billion pounds ($2.4 billion).

(1 US Dollar = 15.73 Egyptian Pounds)

(Reporting by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.

© ZAWYA 2021