Fortune News | Feb 20,2021
Eagle Hills’s new design for the La Gare Eagle Hills Project proposes to demolish the state shipping enterprise’s headquarters as well as a multi-purpose building.
Located on Ras Mekonnen Street, one of the building is owned by Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise, while the other building is jointly owned by Varnero and the Federal Housing Corporation and is used as a residential apartment, office and commercial space.
The Abu Dhabi-based private real estate company submitted the design for the 50-billion-Br La Gare Eagle Hills Project to the Deputy Mayor last Wednesday, March 27, 2019, proposing to incorporate the plot on which the two buildings rest.
Launched in partnership with the City Administration, Eagle Hills has pledged to complete the project in seven years. While granting Eagle Hills the land free for a 99-year lease, the city administration retains a 27pc share in the project.
The project, which will rest on 36ha, was launched four months ago in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Deputy Mayor Takele Uma and Eagle Hills Chairperson Mohammed Alabar. Alabar, the eldest of 12 siblings, is the developer of Dubai’s Burj Kalifa skyscraper through his company, Emaar.
The project encompasses three hotels, a mall, 4,000 apartments and entertainment complexes. It is also expected to provide employment opportunities to 25,000 people. The developer of the project, Eagle Hills, was established four years ago and has been engaged in major international real estate construction in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Receiving the design of the project, the Deputy Mayor’s Office has formed a committee that will be reviewing the request of the company. Representatives from the city’s Water & Sewerage Authority, Roads Authority, Housing Corporation, Planning Commission and Construction Permit & Control Authority constitute the members of the committee.
The committee will review the new design in line with the structure made by Planning Commission, according to sources close to the case.
Even though Eagle Hills came up with the plan to demolish the two buildings, the Abu Dhabi-based firm was given a clear guideline about conservation of heritage and properties, according to a source close to the case.
Located in the heart of the city, the place has an emotional attachment to the residents Addis Abeba. The oldest and the first train line in the country, Addis Abeba – Djibouti, was headquartered at La Gare. The train station, completed in 1917, has been used as the hub that links the south and east with the central highlands.
Part of the 36ha of land is already cleared, while another, approximately 10ha of land, is occupied by 1,600 households who reside in the area. The agreement between the city and Eagle Hills calls for these residents to get housing units at the site after the completion of the first phase.
Though the project was launched four months ago, Eagle Hills, which is working on 12 city construction projects, including a waterfront project in Serbia and residential apartments in Jordan, did not submit a work schedule or start clearing the area.
CEO of Shipping Enterprise, Roba Megersa, confirms to Fortunethat he is not formally aware of the issue.
Shipping Enterprise, which is planning to move the newly built building that is located nearby the current headquarters, which was built two decades ago for 31 million Br.
The local construction firm Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction (TACON) is working on Shipping’s head office - a double basement, 18-storey building with a revolving restaurant at its apex. TACON was supposed to deliver the building, which rests on 3,200Sqm of land, this April but is unlikely to finish on time.
The first two floors of the nine-story building are owned by Geom Luigi Varnero, a well-known locally registered construction company, while the Federal Housing Corporation owns the ground and remaining floors, which it rents out to residents and businesses such as restaurant, supermarket, boutiques and cafes.
The communications office of Eagle Hills did not respond to the email inquiries from Fortunebefore the paper was sent to print.
PUBLISHED ON
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