Real estate director at Polaris Parks Bassel Shoirah said that Polaris International Industrial Parks, an industrial developer, is negotiating with the Ministry of Housing to obtain lands in the New Administrative Capital, 6th of October City, and Fifth Settlement.
Shoirah told Daily News Egypt that his company is looking for developing middle-income housing in the mentioned areas after obtaining the ministry’s approval, either by itself or in partnership with other developers.
Polaris will develop and connect the lands with services and manage the project after completion. Shoirah stated that the difference between the government and the private sector is that the government does not have the capacity to connect lands to the infrastructure and follow up on projects.
Shoirah said that the size of land needed for the Polaris Al Zamil Industrial Park (PZIP) could not be specified yet because the current prices for these plots of land are unknown.
He revealed that the company will not develop or launch new projects in the coming six to nine months, as it is waiting for the market and exchange rate to stabilise.
Shoirah did not deny that a real estate bubble might be on the way, but assured that the stock of lands that real estate developers own will help the sector to not succumb to a sudden bubble collapse.
He added that one of mechanisms that may reduce the effect of the bubble is the partnership between the government—represented in New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA)—and developers in sharing the land prices and revenues.
He noted that the land prices are high and are reflected on the final prices of units, calling on the ministry to provide lands for developers at affordable prices to develop the sector and meet the real demand.
Shoirah pointed out that the Ministry of Housing has another point of view regarding providing lands at affordable prices, as the ministry thinks that it offered the land at a cheap price. However, the developer will not reduce the price of the units but will double his profits, he explained, which is why the newly-formed Real Estate Development Chamber, part of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, will discuss the issue with the Ministry of Housing.
Polaris International Industrial Parks is an industrial developer that was officially launched in January 2008 by former Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, as the first initiative of its kind in Egypt, both as a private industrial park and a large-scale joint collaboration between Turkey and Egypt.
