The FINANCIAL — The affordable housing on Tamarashvili Street by the company “m2 Real Estate” is considered to be of a level equal to UK standards. AECOM Technology Corporation, an American professional technical and management support services conglomerate, has monitored the construction of m2 since the inception of the construction phase.
“I have seen many constructions. The m2 Tamarashvili project is one of the best projects I have seen in Georgia,” Prakash Kaushik, Country Manager at AECOM, told The FINANCIAL.
AECOM is a global company. It has turnover of around US$8 billion globally. More than 45,000 people work for it worldwide in more than 100 countries. Over 40% of our company’s revenue is from North America; out of the remaining 60%, 20% comes from Europe, 20% from the Middle East and 20% from Asia Pacific. The company’s primary focus is design, construction management, lender’s supervision and monitoring, and cost management too. AECOM offers various services related to construction. The company has two headquarters: one in LA and the second in the UK.
AECOM works a lot with the US Government and its projects have included the World Trade Center, destroyed in the attacks of 9/11. Another project is the LA Metro, and in Delhi – the company also completed the building of a metro system. The Pentagon’s renovation and works for homeland security, police headquarters, a tower in Abu Dhabi, and the Cleveland Clinic are also among the list of the company’s most distinguished projects.
“In Georgia people are not used to such high quality construction. There is a lack of focus on this aspect of building from the general public. However, now things have started moving forward. In the last two to three years construction has started improving in Georgia. Still, it will take time, as there are not many good contractors. Hopefully contractors will start to catch up with the companies like m2 soon though,” said Kaushik.
JSC m2 Real Estate is focused on real estate development, property management and project management services. To this date, m2 Real Estate has attracted debt financing to the aggregate amount of USD 20 million. m2 Real Estate has successfully completed one housing project located in a central district of Tbilisi with a second similar project currently underway, planned to be finished in September 2014.
The average price per square metre for the fully renovated apartments which also includes kitchen and its equipment varies from USD 1,100 to USD 1,200, however, the company plans to reduce its prices for the new projects.
AECOM was established in Georgia in 2008. The company works for various clients, including international organizations like IFC, EBRD, and OPEC. Out of local companies it cooperates with GRDC, REDIX, Development Solutions, Silk Road Group; one of the recent projects includes the Tamarashvili project run by m2.
“We work in particular on loan monitoring, lending supervision; we work as an independent adviser for the lender, whether money is spent for the right reason, the project is on time, the quality and the safety. We are actually working on two projects, one on Tamarashvili Street and the other at Lisi Lake. We are also working on Tbilisi Mall,” said Kaushik.
AECOM is working at m2 on behalf of Dutch Development Bank FMO which issued a credit line for m2. “We work as separate advisers to look at the work’s progress, how the budget is being used, whether it is achieving the programme, looking at the quality, health and safety issues, whether it complies with the requirements of the lender. Cost and budget is the most important aspect,” he explained.
“m2 did not start construction straightaway on day one. m2 did technical and financial diligence first; we looked at all the company’s information, even tendering processes. It was thorough, similar to how we do things in the UK. As a result I am pleased to say that m2 has selected the proper contractor. And so far I have had no complaints. The quality of the works is good, the progress is within schedule, also within budget, on top of that clients have initiated some optimization of design, as the result of which they have been able to save half a million dollars, which is good news. And that saving does not compromise the quality,” Kaushik told The FINANCIAL.
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