Geray Real Estate, a developer relatively new to the Ethiopian construction scene, has managed to pull through and transfer houses prior to the set turnkey deadline, which is rarely observed in the real estate market.
The developer which joined the sector about two years ago was successfully able to transfer houses to its buyers, about six months prior to the contract deadline.
The facility which was built up close to the Ethiopian Youth Sports Academy around Imperial Hotel will be officially inaugurated today.
At the event, houses that had already been sold to buyers will officially be transferred.
“We have fully accomplished the houses as per the agreement,” said Alemayehu Birhanie, founder and CEO of Geray Real Estate.
Alemayehu said that he was engaged in the export import business for the last about two decades, with a business culture that stems from his family.
“I have been engaged in the trade for the local and export market and the business is still up and running,” he added.
“I decided to join the real estate business about two years ago since there was a gap I observed,” he said, whilst adding, “if you are prudent enough, the sector is profitable and that is what drew me to become a developer.”
According to the real estate developer, the challenge on the sector is that developers are not committed to their contracts in terms of transfer of houses in a timely manner; to which he said it damaged their reputation and eroded the trust of potential customers.
“The project delay also contributes to a lot of money being incurred which may have a ripple effect and cause bankruptcy to developers,” he explained.
Meanwhile he admitted that there are several force majeure like sudden price hikes on raw materials and hard currency shortage to import some key input on projects like on finishing parts.
“Even though we faced several challenges we have committed to accomplish our projects as per the agreement we gave to our home buyers,” he said, adding, “and our commitment helped us to finalize the project in two years time ahead of the period.” The original agreement was to transfer houses in two and half years.
The facility is an 11 storey and has 27 luxury houses with different sized two bedroom properties.
“The ground and first floor has already been leased by businesses, while the residential flats started from second floor to ten and the last upper floor is an office for the real estate,” he explained.
The residential floors have three houses each in every flat, while the size range 154, 146, 141 in square meters of space. In total the facility rests on a 460 square meter plot of land. The facility has parking lots at the basement and open air area behind the building with a capacity to handle 50 cars.
“Initially we had sold the luxury house at 40,000 birr per square meter, but later the price spike in construction materials pushed the rate to climb up to 70, 000 birr for some houses that were not sold,” the developer said.
“As a beginner we sold houses at fair price, which is great for our customers,” he added.
Alemayehu said that their upcoming project is a 17 storey apartment that will be erected around Gerji Mebrat Hayel on a 610 square meter plot of land, “as per our principle we will continue constructing apartments at the heart of the city with relatively vast lands.”
The Gerji Mebrat Hayel project has already commenced construction will have three basements and 68 houses with two and three bedrooms.
He disclosed that the company will continue on its commitment to finalize houses as per the agreement. “We are working to finalize the upcoming project within two and half years time meanwhile the agreement is to transfer it in three years time.”
He said that besides sudden and nonstop price hike on the construction materials like cement and rebar, lack of plots in the capital is a major challenge for the sector, “one of the major reason that make the houses expensive is the way we access to land.”
“We are constructing house on the plots of land that we bought at extra ordinary rates from individual landowners, due to that the house will be sold at high rates,” he explained “if the city administration facilitate plots we may provide houses at lesser price points.”
Geray Real Estate is named after an irrigation dam called Geray that was constructed early 1980s in the Derg era.