Al Futtaim Group Real Estate signs with major contractors for LE419m

SIAC, which has already begun construction, was awarded a LE316m contract and ACC, expected to begin developing Oriana's infrastructure early September was provided a LE103m contract.

Commenting on the progress of the villas, Cairo Festival City's Senior General Manager, Mohamed El Mikawi, stated:

"Phase one, which will see the completion of 172 of the final 480 villas, is a huge step forward for Cairo Festival City. Signing with SIAC and ACC highlights our continued dedication to the local community and our commitment to complete the project as scheduled. We are happy with the construction progress so far and expect this phase to be completed by end of 2011."

This first phase will generate 850 direct employment opportunities to local Egyptian workers, engineers, administrators and technicians over a period of 20 months. Additionally, a large number of indirect job opportunities will also be created in the process. Cairo Festival City's employees will be working with MIVAN, the highly respected international consulting company which will be providing them with training to use the M.F.E system. The latter is a state of the art aluminum framework which surpasses the levels of accuracy and quality that are currently available in the Egyptian market.

Discussing their work with Cairo Festival City, SIAC's Managing Director, Mr. Nihad Ragab, said, "We are delighted to have this opportunity to work on such a prestigious project and look forward to future collaborations we hope this will lead to."

Salah Al Kady, Associate Architect at ACC also affirmed this, adding, "We truly believe that this project marks the beginning of our work with one of the most well respected developers in the region and we are enthusiastic about our collaboration with world renowned consultants and designers."

The Oriana master plan, designed by WATG, will span across 850,000 sq. meters once completed. Of this land 80% will be dedicated to landscape, open areas and gardens. The villas which will feature French, Italian and Spanish architectural influences will make up only part of the residential district which will be complemented, by smaller more affordable apartments. Along with the residential district, Cairo Festival City will also offer Egypt's first indoor-outdoor retail experience, commercial office space, and hotels.