Investment to reach €360 mln – 1000 new berths
Work has started on the ambitious new Limassol Marina, one of the biggest infrastructure projects on the island, that is expected to create 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and a further 500 places for services and maintenance once it is completed.
The project, that will cost some 360 mln euros to build next to the old port, will include berthing and dry docks for 1,000 vessels, ranging from 30ft sailing boats to a handful of ‘super yachts’ for the rich and famous, that will be ready in the autumn of 2012. The commercial and residential units, including 280 dock-side villas, apartments, cafés and shops, will be delivered in early 2013.
Although the Marina’s General Manager, Takis Palaikythritis, told the Financial Mirror that the project will be financed initially from own funds arising from pre-sales, the Bank of Cyprus already announced that it has been chosen to arrange a loan of EUR 130 mln.
The bank’s Senior General Manager, Vassos Shiarlis, said that this financing is part of the group’s policy to finance large infrastructure projects that will improve the tourist product and boost growth and construction in a period of crisis.
Our vision is to give Limassol a marina of high standards which will have nothing to envy of other harbours abroad, and in addition it will be a point of reference and trigger investment in the region,” Palaikythritis said, adding that there is short supply of marinas and services in the eastern Mediterranean.
Its location near the historic part of town, including the old castle, will make the project attractive to long-term tourists, as well as to Cypriot investors who will be considering buying a boat for the first time, he said.
The island’s two existing marinas at Larnaca port and at Limassol’s St. Raphael can only accommodate 450 and 250 boats, respectively. But new projects underway to build a new marina and port in Larnaca, as well as marinas in Ayia Napa and Paphos, should bring the island’s mooring capacity closer to 3,000.
The marina will be built as a public private partnership (PPP) with the operators acquiring the 100,000 sq.m. land on a 53-year lease with an option for a further 37 years. The joint venture partners are Cybarco, Francoudi & Stephanou, Joannou and Paraskevaides, J&P Avax, Athena SA, CADS Holdings and Limassol Marina Development Co.
Cybarco, www.cybarco.com , will undertake sales with prices expected to be released in April.
February 05, 2010 – www.financialmirror.com
