Tall & Urban News

New Development Will Require Demolition of Several Substantial Buildings in Addis Ababa

Addis Photoshop
Addis Photoshop
04 April 2019 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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 multipurpose building.

Located on Ras Mekonnen Street, one of the buildings 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 (US$1.7 billion) 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 27 percent share in the project.

The project, which will rest on 36 hectares, was launched four months ago in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Deputy Mayor Takele Uma and Eagle Hills Chairperson Mohamed Alabbar, who is also the chairman of Emaar Properties, which developed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

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 of Addis Ababa. The oldest and the first train line in the country, from Addis Ababa to 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 36 hectares of land is already cleared, while another, approximately 10 hectares 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.

For more on this story, go to Addis Fortune.