Solidere's success depends upon joining the old world and the new.

Tens of thousands of people from Beirut and beyond remember the Intabli fountain in Souk Ayyass, with the Ajami Restaurant nearby, the carpenters shops in Souk Najjarin, off Saifi, and all the others - Katayef, Joukh, Khoudra and Franj.

In recreating the souks, however, Solidere's plan is not to turn back the clock. Apart from the Ibn Iraq mosque and some restored buildings on Rue Allenby and Rue Patriarche Hoyek, all the vestiges of the past are now gone forever.

The new Souks - on the site of Ayyass, Tawile and Jamil - will set over 100,000 square meters of retail space around a pattern of pedestrianized streets and squares. The Souk Tawile ("Long Market") will maintain its alignment of 2,000 years. A new Khan Antoun Bey Square will mark the northern limit, and to the south will be Banks Street and avenues to Nijmeh.

The appeal to retailers is clear. In time, BCD will have a residential population of 40,000, and a daytime population of at least 100,000, including the employees of international companies: a large proportion will be from high-income groups. The area will be anchored by high-profile, well-known Lebanese and international retail chains: as points of focus and entry, they will draw shoppers down the malls. The biggest store is likely to be a French import, Galeries Lafayette.

Solidere has decided to lease rather than sell the retail space. The exception is the gold souk, where units will be sold since jewelers are loath to make the substantial investment for built-in safes in leased property. Solidere has a large potential income from the souks. This will be partly from management, which - from such a large floor space - could generate an annual gross income of around $6 million. Solidere could enjoy an even bigger income from leasing. The target average for retail is $500 per square meter a year.

Sale prices in the immediate vicinity suggest prices could rise even higher if and when the downtown area takes off: Cercle Hitti have already bought part of the ground floor of the Atrium building - just across Rue Weygand - at $10,000 a square meter. But the Souks will also give a huge boost to the rest of downtown. "The Souks have all the right ingredients for success," said Michael Dunn, of Michael Dunn & Company, the Beirut associate office of the real estate consultants Healey & Baker. "The Souks will look beautiful, have ample parking, and there will be international retailers with Lebanese franchise-holders and hopefully the leading Lebanese retailers.

Once people get behind it, the potential for the Souks and the surrounding area is almost unlimited."