The FINANCIAL — Basel LLC, owner of the Krtsanisi Government Residence, historical home of the Soviet leaders, is in advanced development of leisure, events, hotel development, and luxury villas, which it plans to sell. Basel is seeking investors from within Georgia and abroad. If that happens it will be a sign of confidence in Georgia’s real estate market and investment potential.
“We will make public specifics of the project within a couple of weeks the details of the size, portion, price and structure of the sale,” declared Daniel Wise, who heads the Marketing and Development design team at Basel LLC.
Background
Basel initially bought 44 hectares of land of the Krtsanisi Government Residence in December 2004.
“Basel happened to be in the right place at the right time, and they did not hesitate for a moment to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” said Daniel Wise, who heads the Marketing and Development at Basel LLC.
“Basel bought the territory when the Government was first doing privatization in 2004 and when no one was buying anything here,” said Wise.
“In addition to the acquisition of the site, the company renovated several buildings and invested 4 million USD alone in development of a master plan of the site. The company hired a team of artists, landscape artists, top architects and designers to develop the plot,” said Wise. This resulted in achieving enormous success in the first phase, having recently completed with several embassies relocating to the site. The second phase that includes a hotel and leisure facilities including restaurants cafe’s and events facilities are being put in place now. Permits for a set of upscale homes for ambassadors and high end Georgian people are in such second phase included.
“We spent over a year with a team of well assembled American and French as well as other international architects, even one local Georgian architect, and marketing people from both sides of the ocean. We took over many factors and made all sorts of studies, including those of the flora and fauna found there,” Wise states.
The company invited international botanic experts, and what’s more, air quality studies were conducted.
“The air quality in Tbilisi is below the danger line, maybe now it has improved as construction has stopped. The air is of the highest quality in Krtsanisi a mere 5 minutes Freedom Square, in summer it is up to 5 degrees cooler than in the rest of the capital, and you never get too hot here,” added Wise.
Five buildings are currently located on the territory of the Krtsanisi Government Residence. The majority of constructions are being rented by foreign embassies including the UK, French, EU, EUMM with all neighbouring Japanese and Swiss Embassies.
As Wise declares the profit from tenants for the company is sizable and the property is already proving to be a stable and increasingly profitable business.
“The Krtsanisi Government Residence is probably the safest place in Georgia right now. The good thing about embassies is that they have such strict requirements when it comes to security that they have to handle everything themselves. Consequentially, in a city where security is a concern, Embassies are the best tenants one could wish for.” declared Wise.
Future of Krtsanisi
As Wise declared the company plans to create an exclusive place mainly for the international community and for Georgian people who are involved in the international community such as businessmen, international diplomats, correspondents, politicians, as well as expatriates and Georgian high society.
“We offer a clean area, safety and community, meaning that there is everything from sports facilities to spas, but most importantly there is international community presence here; diplomats, the Japanese Embassy, Swiss Embassy, EUMM, EU, French Embassy, UK Embassy and there will be other embassies coming here as well,” said Wise.
Full and detailed master-plan created by Basel includes: An international diplomatic park, complete with an Embassy Row, a World Business Center, Luxury villas for Ambassadors and Dignitaries and representatives of multinational corporations and a helipad. A world class luxury hotel and resort, including five star amenities such as a wellness spa, sulfur baths, aqua park, tennis courts and sports fields, and an equestrian area with Polo grounds.
Moreover, the master plan includes following projects: a winery with a restaurant and banquet hall, five star international restaurant, luxury shopping area, the countries first and only executive golf course and country club as well as luxury villas and housing build within the landscape.
“Basel continues to invest heavily in the next phase of the Master Plan, with over 2 million USD being spent over the next few months on preparation for the luxury hotel and spa,” Wise declared.
“The company plans to create an exclusive residential area. We have plans to invest money in developing sports facilities such as rock climbing, cricket and soccer fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, and basketball courts. Moreover we do plan to bring special instructors in, not just have facilities. We’ll have an amphitheatre for musical shows, as well as a helipad, which will bring convenience for diplomats and visitors visiting the Georgian mountains or the seaside via helicopter anytime,” Wise said.
The company plans to create a country club as well, where the international community and businessmen can meet, which will create an exclusive luxury area as well as be family oriented.
“A residential place will be created which will be both separate and connected. On the grounds one can find a shopping area, recreation area, sports, all of them community based facilities, which are united in the common areas and yet at the same time separate in the residential areas.” Wise added.
The first target audience for the newly created place will be the international community. “There are such types of communities in different countries all over the world, especially in countries which are for one reason or another exotic to westerners. In some countries the international community can feel unsafe or isolated. So they have an enclosed community where all foreign investors and ambassadors live, local Georgian captains of industry, bank presidents, and the places are separated from what goes on across the street. People living there feel safe and secure” declared Wise.
“There are similar compounds in certain African, Asian or Middle East countries and in Tbilisi there is none yet. Therefore more Georgians and expatriates will purchase houses in the Krtsanisi area, and in one place they will find very luxurious facilities, concierge, all services and high security. This will also attract middle-class to high-end Georgians who want to live in such a secure area, or want to expose their children to a more international community,” added Wise.
As Wise declared, currently the company is planning an international cafe and food store on the property.
“This again creates a branding of place, where you should be part of the community to get the service, which is only available in the Krstanisi area and nowhere else in Georgia, creating a completely different feeling to the rest of Tbilisi,” Wise added.
“The local as well as foreign investor would see that this area has different rules of the game compared to downtown commercial areas and other pieces of real estate. At Krtsanisi we have tenants from the international economy, France, UK, EU, and Japan. This area will attract the investor interested in long term blue-chip,” Wise said.
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