AP1 Completion

[VAF]

Hi Kenz,


Great ,this confirms what I have seen on site , AP1 is finished.

[VAF]

Photos from my trip to Alcidia during July 2009 have been posted :

http://www.alkudiasmir.com/viewtopic.php?t=213


Regards

[sabrina]

Hi VAF,

did you get any photos of the inside of the apartments? From you photos, it looks like the gardens are definately incomplete, although the promenade gardens are looking good. It seems that they have painted alot of the exteriors before finishing them. The ground floor of the aparthotel is completely bare, no windows and doors. Did you get any photos of the swimming pool?

Thanks for up-loading your photos

[VAF]

Hi sabrina,

There were a lot of people working on the final touche of the appartement's interior and the gardens, for this reason normally I was not allowed to have access to the appartement, but finally ,I had quick look to the inside of an apartment, there was a technician installing the kitchen, unfortunatelly I have no photo, but from this quick look ,I can confirm that the quality is simillar to the appartement in the on site show room.
About the gardens , there where lot of people planting, the pictures are dated 6 th July , I'm pretty sure the situation improved since.
About the aparthotel ground floor, I was told on site that there will be shop and restaurtant , explaining why the ground floor of the aparthotel is completely bare.
About the swimming pool , I had access to it , there were a lot people working on it , the pool seems very large but was not finished at that moment , i will post a photo soon.

Hope this help

[VAF]

Hi Sabrina,

Here is AP1 pool under construction as of begining July.

[davmel]

Hi,
Just back from a very relaxing 2 week holiday staying in the Alcudia Smir area and having travelled out a sceptic I thought I’d give people not familiar with the area some insight;

1) We travelled Aer Lingus Dublin to Madrid and Easyjet to Tangiers (€250 per person return). From Tangiers we picked up a hire car (€700 for 2 weeks)

2) Access is very much improved with the completion of 2 new toll motorways;
a. Toll road (€2/€3) from Tangiers Airport to Tanger Med Port approx 70KM then by dual-carriageway from port over the hills to Fnideq Approx 30km. This part of the road is being upgraded to expressway. Total journey time 1.5 Hrs taking it easy but I guess someone that knows the way would do it in less. Grand Taxi was on offer for approx €30/- . Signposting is ok if you are a local or used to the area however I’m going to make a suggestion to Autoroutes Moroc that the route out to Frideq could be clearer, particularly around the airport and a little Aeroplane on the signs on the way back would translate very well.
See http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=363200

b. Second Toll Motorway (€0.60cents) runs from Fnideq (Al Cudia Smir) for approx 30 km to Tetouan where there is a good Marjane Supermarket

c. The Cornice (Beach walk) is now complete and stretches approx 3km along the front of the site. The area is generally very beautifully landscaped and maintained however they need to remove the balance of building materials on the beach side. The beach is delightfully sandy and was packed every day

3) We were very impressed with the progress in Alcudia and based on our best understanding here are some things we deduced along the way;
a. Moroccan Property prices have remained reasonably stable so anyone that bought at the start of the project is likely to be quids in. (Tested a number of sources)
b. Sales have without a doubt slowed, however during a 2hr stay in the Alcudia Smir office there were 3 walk-in enquiries. No doubt from the packed beach opposite or the busy coast road. It may be just seasonal, however I don’t know of a developer in Dublin with this level of interest.
c. Rental in the area is extremely strong in July/August with €90 (2bed) or €120 (3bed) per night which could be enough to cover local costs. Ramadan will effect this over the next couple of years.
d. While the pools and gardens are being finished the first residents have moved into AP1 & V1.
See video footage we took at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzlIgeJIoig
See photos we took at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v763C0TIz0
(Sorry about the music but I needed something to drown out the heavy breathing as I climbed over the hills)

e. The overall site has progressed well. Roads and Pathways were being finished to a high standard and street lighting plentiful
f. Finish on the buildings is good however while locals can lay tiles expertly, they just seem to lose it on the grout. Main issues were cleaning (Which was in progress), quality of the doors vis a vis showhouse. Over/Under grouting of tiles. Water Boiler seemed small for the 3 bed and while I’m no expert and they may be ok, the electrical sockets and switches did not seem to be top quality. Of the 2 roller shutters I looked at neither wanted to operate but that could be me being a plonker. Kitchen was finished exactly as in the showhouse with separate laundry room, cooker & Hob and simulated marble worktop.
g. Nothing serious, but don’t overlook getting someone to professionally snag the property. I found someone local that speaks English that I’m going to use so if you need someone local that is trustworthy to snag/rent/manage then let me know.
h. Landscaping was in progress but judging by what was being put into the ground it will be beautiful when it matures
i. VAT charged is based on the time of payment so payments made in 2006/07 will attract 14% balance at 20%
j. Hotels and Commercial Space still needs to be developed and sold if the frontage/development is to be a success. Nothing worse then a row of empty shops.
k. Euro exchange rate has gone from 10.90 Dirhams on first payments to 11.06 Dirhams now. So a small improvement that may address some of the VAT
l. Overall impression is that these guys will finish the build and present owners with their properties. However given sales are slower and there are a number of property speculators still in the fray it may take a couple of years longer then planned to get to full occupancy.


4) Local costs were pretty reasonable. Petrol 20% less then Dublin, Meal for two incl wine at the top end €80/- , Shawrama beautiful and a lot less, 9 holes of golf for 2 including rental of clubs and caddy €90/-

5) Anything else just let me know.


Dave

[VAF]

Hi, Dave


Thanks for sharing your experience.

I was at alcudia begining July, unfortunatelly I had less access to the site.
Anyway they did great job in 3 weeks of time (AP1 seems completely finished ,including the pool).
From your video footage and what I have seen begining of July, they worked day and night to reach this level of progress.

VAF

[davmel]

VAF,
Thanks for your good work as well. While things could change I believe that the development company GFM seem to be getting through the Fadesa restructuring issues and are now proceeding full steam ahead. My e-mail is on my profile if anyone has questions.
Davmel

[kenz]

Ive just come back as well,

havent got much to say that hasnt been mentioned by vaf/davemel

whilst our apartment still has got quite a few snags to sort out our overall impression of the development was excellent.

have been a few times before but never in peak season so was good to see just how busy the resort was.

for those looking to rent their places out we struggled to find accomodation & had to pay £115 a night to stay at colina smir in an apartment i would say not as nice as ours at alcudia.

most of you probably already know but we didnt & on another plus side for some people is you can now fly to tangiers from stanstead with air arabia for £120ish return inc taxes.

[andyburgess64]

All very interesting. I didn't know about Air Arabia. Does anyone know whether the airport at Tetuoan is still being upgraded? That was an attraction initially but I never hear about this now.

[mcneilee]

Hi dave did you find any cutting of corners in the build am sure the contract said granite surface in the kitchen.It's not a good idea having you email in open view.There's a spamer on these forums.

[1frenchy]

Finally i got keys
everything was perfect
i got loan with moroccan bank (5.60 fixe)
the staff was perfect
apartment was clean
no surprise at all.
If somebody need help
i can do that

[VAF]

Hi frenchy,



Congratulations.

How many time it took to get your loan ?
Which bank ?
Is your appartment ground floor ?
Are the formalities to sign the final contract easy?
Did you get assisance from GFM ?


VAF

[macca]

Hi Frenchy

Great news!

Hope you don't mind me asking, it's that long since we last heard about anything,but who informs you that your appartment is ready and how did you obtain your keys etc

Many thanks
Macca

[davmel]

Hi dave did you find any cutting of corners in the build am sure the contract said granite surface in the kitchen.It's not a good idea having you email in open view.There's a spamer on these forums.

Hi McNeiliee,
Given where we are buying the quality of the build looked good. I checked kitchen counter tops in the showhouse and they are the same. No major issues that I saw. I think it's down to getting a decent snag list going with someone competent to carry it out.

Frency,
Well done on getting in! I guess it must have been your towels i saw out drying. Looking forward to buying you a guinness when i get there
dave