Friday 18 / October / 2024
Muscat: Crystal Lagoons, the patented technology developer of giant crystalline lagoons, has won projects worth $2 billion in Egypt, including a contract to develop North Africa’s largest ever water-based leisure attraction.
Crystal Lagoons has been contracted for the six-phase Bo Islands project being developed by Maxim Real Estate, part of the multi-faceted Maxim Holdings group of companies.
Located on the Alexandria-Marsa Matrouh north coast road, the upscale tourism and residential community will cover an area in excess of 10 million square metres and is being developed at a total investment cost of $1.8 billion.
“This will be our largest North Africa project to date, with 32 hectares of crystalline lagoons, which once completed, will be the largest manmade lagoon in the region. This is a phenomenal undertaking and one that we are eager to get off the ground as soon as possible,” said Carlos Salas, regional director (Middle East) of Crystal Lagoons.
Phase one of the project, equal to 10 per cent of the total area, will cost an estimated $455 million and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018. Phase one will comprise of 17.5 kilometres of powder-white sand beachfront complemented by an impressive 32 hectares of sparkling lagoons, which will be home to a host of unique water-based activities.
The development will be home to 1,115 top quality standalone villas and chalets, along with two luxury waterfront resort hotels offering 300 guestrooms, and an array of five-star services from world-class restaurants and state-of-the-art health and fitness facilities to waterfront retail and an electronic tram system.
The company already holds two ‘Guinness World Records’ titles with successful locations at San Alfonso del Mar, Chile and Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, which is currently the world’s largest lagoon at 12.2 hectares. Its global portfolio of 300 projects located in 60 countries now includes a total of eight operational or under development sites in the Middle East, including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE.
Crystal Lagoons’ second project is the two-hectare El Gouna community development. Situated on Egypt’s vibrant Red Sea coastline and the centre piece of the $100 million mixed-use residential and tourism hub, it is being developed by leading Egyptian real estate company, Hassan Allam Properties, with construction scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2016.
“This is an extremely prestigious residential-meets-tourism development that targets high-end investors for whom a second home is a lifestyle prerequisite and who expect the highest standards of leisure facilities at which to enjoy their precious downtime. This is the second project we have partnered with Hassan Allam Properties on, and our appointment reflects the confidence that they have in us to once again deliver a one of-a-kind project,” said Salas.
The only global company with the technological capability to make the development of giant controlled manmade bodies of water economically viable, Crystal Lagoons is positioning itself as offering a unique product differentiator to high profile tourism projects around the world.
Its patented technology makes it possible for people to enjoy an authentic beach experience in previously unimaginable locations, such as the desert or in the centre of major cities, with the potential to add economic value to new tourism destinations.
Designed to be self-cleaning, the lagoons use up to 100 times less chemicals than traditional systems, and only two per cent of the energy required by conventional filtering technologies, making them incredibly sustainable.
