AREMS, new real estate management company, launched in Jordan

The company is derived from a strategic partnership between Abdali Psc, United Real Estate Company-Jordan (URCJ), owned by URC Kuwait and Beirut Real Estate Management & Services Company (BREMS). The newly formed company AREMS, will be chaired by H.E. Nasser Al Nowais, with Mr. Akram Abu Hamdan as deputy chairman, Mr. Jamal Itani as Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Francois Najjar as Chief Operating Officer. The agreement comes in line with Abdali Psc's continuous striving to provide complete and comprehensive solutions aimed at ensuring long term sustainability for stakeholders, developers, tenants, as well as end users of the new Abdali downtown first and other property developments in Amman and Jordan on a later stage.

BREMS is a leading real estate entity in Lebanon and a subsidiary of Aswaq Management and Services. The latter is a direct Gulf representative of "Société Des Centres Commerciaux" (SCC), the French retail property consultancy and management experts established in Paris in 1962 at the prestigious Place Vendôme and involved in over 70 projects in Europe. Aswaq Management is currently behind some of the most successful regional projects to date, including The Abu Dhabi Mall and Manazel Building Material City in Abu Dhabi, The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, the Business Bay and Turath at the Culture Village in Dubai as well as The Villamar at the Financial Harbor and the Down Town Al Areen in Bahrain, to name but a few.

While AREMS will operate as a stand alone company in Jordan, it has announced during the press conference the signing of three contracts, the first of which is with Abdali Psc to provide "Global Retail Property Strategy Consultancy" for the whole new downtown to guarantee a compatible selection of retail activities for the Abdali development. Another consultancy and management agreement was signed with the Abdali Boulevard Company (ABC), the entity responsible for the management of the Abdali Boulevard, which is on the fast track to becoming the vibrant center in the new Abdali downtown. AREMS is also in negotiation for a service agreement with URC- Jordan, subsidiary of URC- Kuwait, to provide property consultancy and management services to the Abdali Mall Company, which is responsible of the mixed use property Development directly connected to the Boulevard and comprising a covered 70 000 SQM Shopping Center .

AREMS, whose team has already established the retail strategy of the Boulevard and collected numerous letters of intents of international and local retailers, will trigger this month the leasing of over 130 shops ranging between 50sqm to 1100sqm in the Boulevard. It is worth mentioning that the Boulevard will offer for the first time in Jordan a unique entertainment experience complete with outdoor shopping, fine and casual dining. AREMS will also market the offices of the Boulevard and manage the property on behalf of its owners.

Mr. Akram Abu Hamdan, Vice Chairman of AREMS, stated during the conference that the level of expertise that this new partnership will provide is not available in Jordan at present and hoped that it will also contribute to training Jordanians in this new line of retail & property management. This also falls in line with the qualitative value that Abdali Psc is adding to the new culture of urban and business life in the capital Amman, an upcoming haven for all those who strive for world-class services.

Commenting on the prospects of the enterprise, Mr. Nowais said: "In only a short span of time, Jordan has succeeded in becoming the favorable destination for regional investors, and our presence today side by side with one of the most prominent developers in the country is a proof of this achievement. As we sign with Abdali Psc, we are part of history in the making, as the new Amman Downtown will change the facets of the capital. Thanks to the AREMS venture, two leading companies in the field have successfully joined forces to deliver powerful real estate services for the region's burgeoning needs."

On the same note, Mr. Itani, CEO of Abdali Psc and of AREMS, added: "In line with our continuous drive to bring excellence to our vision of a modern urban city; the creation of AREMS took place. The expertise and knowledge that the venture is offering to the stake holders involved in this pioneering and colossal project is one of our main priorities in ensuring sustainability. In addition to the creation of AREMS, Abdali Psc has assigned the newly formed company the task of Global Retail Property Strategy Consultancy for the overall project to ensure a well studied analysis in terms of tenant mix in the new downtown.", further adding, "We are in a unique place in time, where new processes and more advanced means are required to ensure the success of the development. As pioneers, we went ahead with conviction in the creation of AREMS to effectively ensure a well considered tenant mix and hence the attraction of the most prominent brand names into what will become a major destination in Amman."

The core services of AREMS are to provide real estate consultancy, marketing, design and fitting coordination, property and facility management, rental management, as well as retail, offices and residential property operation and marketing management. AREMS will bring its full expertise to the Boulevard and to the developers in Abdali, with plans to expand later in the Jordanian real estate market.

The new Abdali Downtown is a pioneering urban project which aims to introduce a thriving high-quality urban destination with an infrastructure that meets international standards within the growing city of Amman. In accommodating the growing international and regional needs of the business community, all of Abdali's future tenants and visitors will have access to the latest telecommunications and media technologies and, for the first time in Jordan, an efficient and environmentally friendly district energy system. The initial phase of the Abdali District will span an area of 350,000 m2 with an expected built-up area of 1,077,000 m2 and an estimated cost of over US $1.5 billion.