The Corinthia Group, which has hotel investments in several countries, has embarked on a new €300 million development in the heart of Tripoli's business centre, which will be the first of its kind.
Called Medina Towers, the development is described as a 40-storey "vertical town" sprawled over 11,000 square metres which will include 238 residential units, a commercial area and an auditorium, all of which will have their own discrete entrances.
The building, designed by Paul Camilleri & Associates and Sidell Gibson Architects, will be crowned by a spacious restaurant overlooking the sea.
The block will also feature serviced offices, which will enable firms starting up in Libya to find a staffed office to help their business run smoothly.
Work on the project was expected to start in the next three months and should last about four years, the Corinthia said.
Prices at Medina Towers start at €3,200 per square metre, rising to much higher prices for the 650-square metre apartments overlooking the Mediterranean, of which there will only be 20.
The development will be jointly owned and developed by Mediterranean Investments Holding (MIH), International Hotel Investments and their Libyan partners, the Economic Development and Real Estate Investment Company. The latter is a wealth fund set up by the Libyan government to make joint investments with foreign investors in a diverse range of real estate projects in Libya.
Corinthia Group chairman Alfred Pisani said the group's past investments in the country, which until not long ago was perceived negatively, were paying off and Medina Tower would be the first development of its kind in Libya.
He said the joint venture between the private sector and the government enjoyed the "best of both worlds", with private standards and investment married to "political strength".
Reuben Xuereb, managing director of the Medina Tower Joint Stock Company, said there was a "very ready" market for this development because there had been a strong demand to buy property in Palm City, which was MIH's second investment in the country.
The place will be built with local building customs in mind: one such idiosyncrasy is separate en-suite bathrooms for men and women. It also entails apartments being larger; the number of apartments originally planned was reduced to include bigger flats.
To assist in financing the project, MIH has announced a €30 million seven-year bond with an interest rate of 7.15 per cent payable annually as from July 23, 2011.
In a bid to attract foreign investors, the bonds will be issued in euro, sterling and dollars.
The bonds are redeemable in 2017 but can be redeemed earlier at the issuer's option as from 2015. In the case of oversubscription, the bond issue will be increased by €10 million up to a total of €40 million.
Application forms and copies of the prospectus are available from authorised financial intermediaries. Subscriptions open on July 12 and the offer closes on July 16 or earlier if oversubscribed.