Al Ahly, Hill International to develop Odysia City in Mostakbal City
Al Ahly For Real Estate Development – Sabbour and El Mostakbal for Urban Development, the master developer of Mostakbal City along with their partners Hill International, Sabbour Consulting, Gensler Architects and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) announced the details the new mixed use urban community compound in Mostakbal City, on an area of 578 acres or the equivalent of 2.4 million m2.
The mixed use development named the “The City of Odysia” will be built at an estimated cost of 32 Billion Egyptian Bounds .
“The final concept of the City of Odysia has far exceeded our expectations” said Essam Nassef Chairman and Managing Director of El Mostakbal for Urban Development. ” Among our primary concerns when working with a diverse range of developers is the overriding concern that there may be a large disparity in vision and implementation it is therefore critical to integrate between the different visions of the developers to create one sense of seamless community”.
The best way to do so is to select developers, according to Nassef, who have long standing expertise like Sabbour and are closely aligned with the vision of Mostakbal City “It is why the selection process at El Mostakbal is so stringent” he comments. The issue is not building for the sake of building, as Nassef explains further, but developing a complete ecosystem that meets the needs of the larger community as whole that will live in Mostakbal City accordingly “ our contractual commitments are governed by certain criteria, an overarching vision, and stringent technical requirements. These guidelines provide us with all necessary guarantees, as the master developer of Mostakbal City, while also serving our partners who cooperate with us in its development” he says
According to Nassef, explaining the reasoning behind their fourth project with Al Ahly For Real Estate Development – Sabbour he explains that “the name of Sabbour is one that engenders trust in the market”. Trust that is expressed in their large number of customers and the successful sale of all their projects over the many years they have worked in the market. “To us as a master developer when looking at Sabbour, the success of their vision is seen in the rate of occupancy of their developments which is among the highest in Cairo with a rate over 90%. It signifies to us that Sabbour builds homes for real people and this is what we want at Mostakbal City real homes, real people real lifes and this is what Sabbour represents” Nassef adds.
Commenting on this Sabbour explains his vision for the City of Odysia as a mixed residential compound, in an important and highly-visible location, which will house around 12,000 families. Al Ahly For Real Estate Development – Sabbour aspires for the new development to capitalize on the existing greenery and new strong public transport connections that are an integral part of Al Mostakbal City masterplan. ” For us the City of Odysia represents a new phase for Al Ahly For Real Estate Development – Sabbour, towards implementing our new strategic direction.” He explains “the City of Odysia represents a marriage between the traditional Sabbour offering and a new modern vision for the future , accordingly City of Odysia is structured as a number of diverse micro-communities, for which Sabbour is famous, tied together by pedestrian-friendly connections marking City of Odysia as a standard-setter in healthy, livable place-making.” says Sabbour
Gensler, an award winning global leader in architectural design was tasked with providing innovative master planning and urban design services for the new City. Ian Mulcahey ,Managing Principal at Gensler, and Project Principal for the project, added: “City of Odysia will focus on putting people at the heart of the conversation, exploring how communities form around shared spaces, how people interact with them, what choices they have, and how our approach to place-making enables community ownership and a sense of belonging.” With Genslers’ expertise in sustainable master planning and the implementation of a ‘car-lite’ strategy, the attractive living environment will create a strong sense of community. Al Ahly For Real Estate Development – Sabbour this aspect is critical in the implementation since their design is to incorporate cost effective and sustainable solutions that are developed to reduce the cost of ownership over the lifetime of the owners. According to Sabbour “ based on what we see in our other compounds, the cost of ownership expressed in facility management, energy products and water preservation among others, is higher than the initial cost of the unit, in this time and age we need to incorporate such needs into our planning”.
More significantly Sabbour has not limited the cost issue to facility management, sustainability and energy prices but has included in the concept design of the City of Odysia a wide range of units. As Sabbour points out “we must adapt to changing needs “ those changing needs include a product offering that in its diversity allows more customers to purchase a unit that meets their needs instead of “ spending exorbitant amounts of money only to adjust certain aspects of the property they have purchased” says Sabbour.
Hill International will be managing the design and construction of the project. “With the selection of a project manager, we have achieved yet another milestone that is critical to the success of the City of Odyssia” says Sabbour adding that “Hill International, has the expertise of a world-class project management team in addition to the local knowledge that ensures that this project will be completed successfully” Hill International is a globally established project and construction management company with a number of major rankings attributed to its name most significantly in this case Hill International is ranked the global leader in managing construction risk.
Waleed Abdel Fattah,Senior Vice President and North Africa Regional Manager for Hill International , stated that “ Construction is one of the world’s most difficult and challenging endeavors, and big projects such as Odysia carry big risks along with it. Normally such big projects face delays and cost overruns, however, through Hill’s presence on the project, we will assist the client to manage reducing these risk to successfully hand over the project on-time and within budget.”
Other elements key to the City of Odysia masterplan include the development of a Central Business District that spans 100 ha. Recently recognized for innovation, people management and global competitiveness in 2018’s Fortune 500 list Jll has been tasked with providing consultancy services on the development and lease of the Central Business District. “With their expertise and global services platform, legacy of property management excellence and award-winning best practices spanning operations, leasing, marketing and accounting, JLL will add tremendous value to the development of the CBD as they use their expertise to guide the development, allowing us to provide an even higher level of service,” added Sabbour
“City of Odysia’s Central Business District offers an abundance of advantages that are crucial for the success of the project “ says Ayman Samy , Head of JLL Egypt Office “. The complex is located in at the crossroads connecting between New Cairo and surrounding areas and the New Administrative Capital”. He adds that the facilities and concepts integrated within the design will allow for different requirements and prove attractive for potential clients to move their business there.
As central feature of the CBD is the multipurpose hub, built to emulate London’s Millennium Dome, this multipurpose entertainment venue will be built with a large audience in mind boasting clear sight lines from every angle and state of the art acoustics. The dome, represents the center piece in an extensive plan that includes among others designer studios and production studios to provide space for different cultural and art pursuits in the area. The overall purpose is to create a vibrant community that promotes cultural pursuits in Egypt.
