Having youth creativity at the heart of any business with a proper strategy “can drive any organization to the sky and beyond,” believes Inertia’s Board Member and Marketing & CRM VP Ahmed Mokbel. Inertia’s second home projects in El Gouna and on the North Coast might be Egypt’s gateway to an international real estate market; hence promoting tourism too. Invest-Gate accompanies Mokbel on a very special G Cribs tour to discover Inertia’s key to success and its updates on the second home market and future projects.
How Did Inertia Become This Great Success In Your Opinion? What Is The Secret To Such Success?
Our success story is very different yet very simple. We presented a new innovative business model to the biggest names in the market back in 2007 when we first started. We convinced megadevelopers to enter into partnership with us, through which we help them develop their big projects. Inertia became the technical arm, which helped them deliver a competitive product and that was our “edge.”
How Did You Start? What Are Your Recent Projects?
Our first project was a medical complex, Medipoint Sheikh Zayed, comprising fully finished medical clinics with ACs in Sheikh Zayed. Then, we moved to El Gouna with G Cribs project in 2010. In 2013, we started residential projects in Cairo like West Hills and Soleya located in Cairo- Alexandria Road; in 2016, we launched Brix and Joulz in Cairo and Veranda in Sahl Hasheesh.
Last year, we launched our recent 5.5 mn square meters project, Jefaira, in North Coast. We plan to make it a fully-integrated city with a targeted investment of EGP 20 bn to be pumped over 15 to 20 years. Jefaira will include a promenade with the full width of the land (3.6 km), a marina with retail outlets, hotels, sports facilities, educational facilities, medical facilities, convention center, downtown area, and a park.
What Value Did Inertia Add To The Market?
Our strongest asset lies in youth. The age of our employees ranges between 25 and 40. We adopt the creativity and innovation of the youth and develop it further. They have the knowledge, loyalty, passion, and enthusiasm; and are capable of studying the market and its needs very well. We believe so much in the talents of young people and we have an open-door policy with them.
On another note, we were the first to introduce the ‘sub-development concept’ to the Egyptian market, through approaching the master developers and becoming a sub-developer in their long-schemed projects whether through partnership or buying a part of their land plots at convenient terms.
We also offered the successful model of studios, one and two bedrooms in El Gouna. This, alone, encouraged other developers to cater to the single homeowner. We usually study the needs of people and act upon them.
Why Did You Choose El Gouna As A Destination For One Of Your Projects, Namely G Cribs?
It is a personal preference; we love El Gouna and are passionate about the fully- integrated community Orascom aims to achieve. But given the initial prices and the unit sizes of El Gouna, we found it hard for the young Egyptians to own properties there. Back then El Gouna only targeted the foreign homebuyer, offering units’ prices of USD 300,000 and EGP 400,000. Nowadays, one can get units for USD 30,000 with the introduction of our project. So it became more attractive to Egyptians and foreigners alike.
Who Are Your Target Clients?
Our core target clients are achievers and entrepreneurs between 30 and 45 years old, yet we have other types of clientele, seeking to enjoy a calm life in a good place. Foreigners represent 15% of our clients, mostly from England, Switzerland, and Germany. In Jefaira, we aim to have 30% of our clients from foreign countries.
How Do You Plan To Attract The Foreign Homebuyer?
We have many strong ties with marketing companies. Our strongest selling point is the project’s quality and attractive prices. We also have good relations with companies in Dubai that help us achieve our target sales in the Gulf. In addition, we rely heavily on our social media- a powerful tool today- that helps us reach home investors abroad.
What Is Unique About Your Projects, Mainly G Cribs And Jefaira?
G Cribs offers one-, two-, and three-bedroom units of various sizes from 35 to 157 square meters, with prices varying between EGP 800,000-900,000 and EGP 3 mn. These sizes and pricing segments did not exist before.
We offer our clients El Gouna owner’s card, which makes our clients enjoy several benefits and accesses to many places. We also introduced some new features to El Gouna, including elevators and heated pools. We do not only deliver units but also provide our clients luxury services based on their needs. Value of investments in the first and second phases of G Cribs amount to EGP 100 mn and 150 mn, respectively.
As for Jefaira, we are putting in mind four dimensions while working on it: health, sports, education, and entertainment. The project will boast one of biggest onboarding schools in England, one of top 30 universities worldwide, a sports institution, specialized medical tourism hospital, food and beverage outlets, and hotels.
What Is Your Latest News?
We are delivering Soleya and G Cribs Phase II in 2018 and 2019.