With a slogan that says “developing feel-good neighbourhoods,” Iwan Developments has been focused on maintaining their quality of projects after earning their reputation through the Jeera and Jewar projects.
“Iwan Developments has a very unique style of design and quality,” said Ahmed Ashraf, sales manager at Iwan Developments.
“We offer a mixture of different designs like modern and contemporary,” he added.
Iwan Developments used a contemporary design inspired by the Art Deco style, which marked famous cities around the world, like Paris, New York, and Cairo, to design their most recent project, Alma, located in the centre of Sheikh Zayed, to reflect the elegance of downtown.
Art Deco is famous for its patterns, lines, and strong presence. Iwan Developments mixed the language of Art Deco with modern design to develop properties possessing an own identity with simple yet appealing details.
Iwan Developments also used energy balance to design one of their most successful projects, Jedar.
Energy balance in architecture addresses the energy of shape from a scientific approach. It highlights the relationship between shape and energy in demonstrating how shapes bring balance into energy fields.
Ashraf said, “Iwan Developments built Jedar using energy balance. Those who understand this will appreciate it more.”
Atrio is another fully finished project by Iwan Developments.
“We’re trying to give the people a different product with a different quality,” said Ashraf.
He added, “we’re planning to launch a project this year on the Cairo-Alex Desert Road.”
The company is still studying the project; more information on the project will be revealed upon confirmation.
On another note, Ashraf mentioned that the floatation of the pound had a positive impact, mainly on those who do not live in Egypt because those possessing foreign currency benefit from the favourable exchange rate.
“Many considered this an opportunity to make real estate investments in Egypt, which is the country’s best investment,” he said.
“Little to no people make real estate investments in Egypt and suffer from losses. The most guaranteed investment in Egypt is real estate—no matter the investment period or the type of investments, whether they want to resell the unit after four years, or rent it, or keep it for ten years,” he added.
These investments are all in favour of the Egyptian economy.
In terms of numbers, according to Ashraf, the sales have increased right after the floatation of the pound—especially in the last two months of 2016.
One of the negative impacts that the flotation of the pound has had on Iwan Developments is that the prices of building materials have increased, which, according to Ashraf, was one of their challenges.
“I have a certain sales plan with certain prices for the year, yet the flotation leads us to changing prices, resulting in increasing the prices of the units,” Ashraf explained.
“It’s a challenge to maintain the balance by not increasing our prices too much and at the same time reaching the target we want, especially since even economic experts have different views regarding the near future of the pound. It is a challenge for us to set a fixed, accurate price for our plan and maintain it for the rest of the year,” he added.
Iwan Developments’ prices have increased, as all other real estate development companies did, with the devaluation of the pound.
However, Ashraf assured that the market is on the right path in terms of sales. People are still buying, whether it is because they need the house to live in or as a form of investment.
“The demand on real estate, in my opinion, never decreases,” he commented.
Iwan Developments is a company in the real estate sector that has been in the market for over 15 years. It focuses on relevant innovation from idea to delivery.
The company then grew when they invested in the lands of the compounds Jeera and Jewar, which were the first two compounds where Iwan Developments acted as the main developer.
Jeera was launched for sale in 2008, while Jewar was launched in 2009 for sale, starting to deliver properties by 2011. The compounds now are almost fully inhabited.
Ashraf said, “Jeera is the history for Iwan Developments. It is the reference for any of our new projects. Jeera and Jewar were the stepping stone projects for us because we gained our strong current reputation through them.”
“We then mainly focused on buying lands in Sheikh Zayed and 6th of October City, which is where we’re currently specialised,” he added.
Iwan Developments recently started new projects, which are Jedar, launched in 2014, in 6th of October City, and Atrio and Alma in Sheikh Zayed, which were both launched in 2015—most of those are prime locations in Sheikh Zayed and are largely sold out.
Iwan Developments’ long-term plan is to expand to other areas around Cairo.
“The plan we’re working on is to expand to new areas, like New Cairo, yet maintain our expansion in Sheikh Zayed and 6th of October City,” said Ashraf.
