Being part of the government’s development plan for fourth generation cities, New Al-Alamein is standing out with the increasing number of residential and commercial projects being established there, with the crown jewel being North Edge Towers, a project by City Edge Developments. Invest-Gate meets with the company’s CEO, Amr El Kady, to tell us the latest about their luxurious project in the eco-friendly city and his vision to create a new era of all-year-round living.

What Is Unique About North Edge Towers In New Al-Alamein?

As a concept, our high-rise towers are the first of their kind to be established on Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline. The 40-floor towers are equipped with all the facilities and amenities that exist in any global high-end tower, offering fullyfinished units with ACs.

We are also applying the highest architectural standards used in smart cities around the globe, while paying attention to all the related technical details, to deliver a premium management system across all buildings.

Why did you choose New Al-Alamein?

New Al-Alamein is one of the fourth generation cities in Egypt, in addition to the New Administrative Capital and New Mansoura. New Al-Alamein is special for having a 14-kilometer shoreline spreading along its foreground. Covering an area of 48,917 acres, the city is expected to attract a total of 3 mn Egyptians following the delivery of its first phase by 2030. Moreover, it will offer 20,000 – 25,000 hotel rooms on an area of 7,770 acres along the coastal area, 14 multi-leveled residential neighborhoods, industrial zones covering 5,000 acres, logistic areas on 3,000 acres, universities and scientific centers on 2,000 acres, and commercial areas spanning across 5,000 acres, which all provide it with great potential for comprehensive economic growth.

New Al-Alamein is also becoming very close to Cairo, especially with the newly-established road networks. The country’s railway investment plans, that include a high-speed train between Ain El-Sokhna and New Al-Alamein, will also shorten the distance. Thereby, existence of different means of transportation will make New Al-Alamein easily accessible. The city is expected to be very attractive with the residential products being innovated and the economic base to be developed. Also, its closeness to the sea gives it a different flavor.

Do you think new Al-Alamein will be a home for first residents? And when?

With the government’s development plan currently being executed, and current speed and completion rate of construction works, New Al-Alamein will definitely attract primary homebuyers in the near future, starting two years from today.

What will be the encouraging factors for first homebuyers to relocate outside Cairo?

The existence of an economic base in any city in terms of companies and factories to create business and job opportunities.

What are the facilities to be provided for residents of North Edge Towers?

The towers themselves have all the luxury facilities and services any resident would need, including swimming pools, a gym, a jogging track, kids’ area, and garages.

On the city level, there will be shopping malls, cinemas, and entertainment venues, in addition to hospitals, universities, and food and beverage venues.

What are the recent updates on city edge developments’ projects? What do you have in the pipeline?

We have launched earlier this year Etapa in Sheikh Zayed and we now have North Edge Towers in New Al-Alamein with its units’ allocation to start in the third week of July.

As for our future projects, we will launch two new projects in New Mansoura and the New Administrative Capital, with all the details to be revealed soon.

How do you see the current business environment?

Egypt’s business environment is very challenging and the ranking of doing business is not that high, yet that is where the opportunity lies. Challenges are followed by great gain if you know how to tackle them. Egypt has the highest return on investment (ROI) compared to its peers in the region.

What should be done to promote our ranking?

On the general economy level, the market is doing fine and this is reflected on Egypt’s improved GDP growth and credit ratings. However, Egypt still needs to resolve some issues related to obtaining licenses and issuing laws to ease business for investors, especially the foreign ones. The best way for foreign investors newly entering the market is to partner with local investors because they know their way around.

But the good news is that the Egyptian market currently enjoys a number of factors that attract foreign investments. The number of residents and strategic location have been of major significance in making the country among the most inviting in the region. Moreover, the devaluation of the Egyptian pound has specifically proved significance in driving up the volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Egypt to USD 3481 mn in January 2018, compared to USD 2950 mn during the same month last year.

What is your evaluation for the real estate sector?

The real estate sector is doing very well and the demand growing; it continues to be a promising sector in the economy as it contributes with a total of 15% to Egypt’s GDP. This has also affected the number of players in the market as it keeps on increasing year after year, which makes it extremely competitive; one should be up to the game to increase their market share.

How do you think we can attract foreign homebuyers?

Developers should deliver products with designs that cater to the taste of foreigners in accordance with the region they are coming from. The product should be fully finished and located in areas that are efficient and accessible all the way through from the port of entry till the unit itself.

Developers should facilitate registration of units and finalizing the deal; they have to help them navigate through local challenges. Developers should also work on the accreditation of the product to make the buyer trust the financial or the contractual side of the purchase process.

What are the techniques you suggest to market real estate products?

Any developer should define the target audience and understand their needs, and then start developing campaigns to reach out to them.

Why don’t developers invest in establishing business parks?

After the campaigns carried out for the city, investors started to see the construction updates happening on the ground and I think they will begin to look with a different eye to New Al- Alamein.