Palm City Residences' welcomed its first tenants a week ago as the sales and marketing team went out of its way to help a Spanish couple move into their maisonette a few weeks earlier than planned. Another tenant is to relocate shortly.

The dust has not quite settled and there are over 1,750 multinational workers and labourers on site, but the couple are perfectly happy with their new abode, describing it is as even better than their home in Spain.

The last phase of completion is in full swing at the €100 million, 1.3-kilometre-wide residential development on the pristine Janzour coastline, half an hour's drive outside the Libyan capital.

Corinthia senior project foremen, scores of whom are Maltese, supervise the army of labourers as numerous employees of Maltese companies involved in the project like furniture manufacturers and importers (two of Malta's top names have been engaged), mechanical and electrical engineering firms, landscapists, and several suppliers, get on with the job.

The focus is now on finishing the interiors of most of the 413 units, including studio, two- and three-bedroom apartments, maisonettes, terraced houses, and 44 four-bedroom bungalows in time for the official opening in September. Eight designer villas with private pool at one end of the property are in the final stages of construction, although lease agreements on three have already been signed.

Landscaping is making all the difference as the roundabouts take on striking colour contrasting the sand-tinted walls of the residences. The tarmac on the interior streets is being laid and the turf is being gradually set down on terraces and porches. Over 200, six-metre high palm trees, saplings, and flowering shrubs have been planted in the gardens, and some garden furniture has already started to appear. Once the bougainvillae grows over the soon-to-be installed pergolas above the car ports and terraces, it will offer some shaded respite from the beating sun at peak hours.

A concerted programme of furniture, soft furnishing, accessory, entertainment equipment, and lighting installation is currently underway inside the residences. The blueprint is laid out in the show apartments: The designer interiors incorporate rich wood furniture, luxury kitchens and bathrooms (there is one for every bedroom) in earth colours, and some exquisite flatware, linen, and trimmings - new tenants need only suitcases with their clothes as every other necessity is ready and waiting for use.

Designer curtains offset the colour scheme and offer privacy while reducing the sun's intrusion. Wide sea views can be enjoyed without obstruction through the sheers from 90 per cent of the residences.

The lengths Palm City Residences, the brainchild of Mediterranean Investments Holding plc - a joint venture between Corinthia and the Kuwaiti National Real Estate Company - has gone to achieve these standards are clear.

A state-of-the-art lifestyle management solution has been adopted. It revolves around a concept design methodology to incorporate multiple technologies, business processes and lifestyle integration. The framework allows for a unified infrastructure for several facets of the residences' amenities, including all IT, telecom, TV, security and utilities management control.

There are no wiring, satellite dishes or external air-conditioning units in sight - infrastructure has been concealed or incorporated in the buildings. In a country with minimal green credentials, a sewage treatment plant will allow water to be recycled for irrigation. Even a nursery will be established to provide ample supply for planting.

Services to tenants include VOIP internet, IPTV (a first for Libya), TV satellite packages with more than 1,000 channels, video on demand, leisure gaming, video conferencing, Web-based CCTV and centrally controlled irrigation systems.

Round-the-clock controlled gate access, including vehicular approach sensor recognition and card access systems for visitors, ensures not only residents' security but means there is minimal intrusion on lifestyle at Palm City Residences.

There is a 450-cubic-metre landscaped outdoor pool within the complex, and residents have a 125-metre stretch of private sandy beach and the clearest waters at their disposal. From the beach, bathers will look towards Tripoli, 15 kilometres away, and only see the coastal properties - so clever is the project's design.

There are three restaurants within the complex, including a beachside grill house, a club house with indoor pool, squash court, gym, spa, treatment rooms, and dance studio. On the outer perimeter of the club house are four tennis courts and a seven-a-side football pitch.

On the central piazza are a 950-square metre supermarket, clinic, and car rental and chauffeur-driven service, some of which will be operated by joint ventures between Maltese and Libyan companies. Agreements have also been signed with international names to operate banking services, a beauty salon, a laundry facility, and a boutique exclusively for residents' use at the core of the village.

The guest relations manager relocated from Corinthia Group's Floriana head office last week to take over the central administrative office. The 1,000-odd residents can turn to the office for any request from housekeeper hiring to outside catering.

"This is Libya in 2009," Palm City Residences managing director Reuben Xuereb told The Times Business in his site office. "Nothing close to Palm City Residences exists here at the moment. Expats moving to Libya have traditionally left their families behind or rented a villa just outside Tripoli. There are a couple of compounds for corporate professionals but they do not feature these specifications.

"This project has been designed with families in mind and to meet all the demands of a continental lifestyle. In Libya, most entertaining is carried out within private residences and Palm City caters for that trend perfectly. We even plan to set up a residents' association to encourage community spirit and to help new tenants integrate easily. Most importantly, there are nine international schools in the vicinity."

The land on which Palm City Residences has been developed was acquired some years back. Mr Xuereb recalls that originally the development was to be a mixed use project with just over 200 residential units, offices and a hotel. The plans were modified four years ago when it was decided that the entire development could be designed to cater for the surging demand for high standard accommodation. Even the interior design plans were crumpled and thrown out three times before a final design by Corinthia Group's Quality Project Management team fit the bill.

Residences are offered for lease mostly for between five to seven years. Several international companies involved in sectors like oil and gas, construction, infrastructure, consultancy, hospitality, medical, education, aviation, and financial services, have secured a significant number of units at Palm City.

Mr Xuereb expects relocation activity to peak around September. A Maltese general manager, who has been involved in the project for the last three years, has now been given the overall responsibility to take over and lead a permanent staff of around 120, including several Maltese.

Marketing opportunities within Libya are fairly limited - a few billboards on the main thoroughfare across Tripoli herald the property's imminent opening and some advertising has been placed in trade publications. But word of the high standards at Palm City has spread among the international and corporate community, and increased interest has been generated in the last couple of months.

Mr Xuereb says several multinationals and the embassies have now expressed their intention to reserve significant numbers of units at Palm City Residences for staff and their families.

It is no wonder. With rates starting at €2,150 per month for an apartment, Palm City Residences make economic sense, considering hotel rooms book at between €280 to €400 a night. When they are available.

"Take up of units at Palm City is looking good and by the opening date it looks like there will be a good number of tenants residing at Palm City," Mr Xuereb points out. "The property has already become a synonymous address with the expatriate community."

Palm City in numbers

• 40 contractors
• 17 tumoli - total site area
• 14 tumoli - built up site area (58%)
• 5 km - total length of roads
• 68,000 square metres - landscaping
• 38,000 trees and plants
• 3,000 bedrooms