Abdali Urban Regeneration/Abdali Centre

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 45097

Status Complete

Location

Jordan

Business Sector

Real Estate

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 45097

Status Complete

Location

Jordan

Business Sector

Real Estate

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

23 Jul 2013

Disclosure date

21 Jun 2013

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Translated version of this PSD: Arabic

Project Description

The EBRD is considering a senior loan of up to USD 80 million to support the completion of Phase I of the Abdali Urban Regeneration Project (“AURP”), a major mixed-use brownfield regeneration of the centre of Amman and currently the largest project of this kind in the SEMED region.

The proceeds of the Loan will be used to finance the development and operation of a food, retail and entertainment centre (the “Centre” or the “Project”) currently being developed by the Abdali Mall Company (the “Borrower”) positioned in the heart of AURP with an anchoring role of serving as a footfall generator for the wider scheme.

AURP is striving to become an exemplary benchmark in terms of sustainable regeneration in the wider MENA region with ground-breaking innovative solutions used for the first time which include district heating and cooling systems, energy passive design, state of the art mechanical and electrical installations, building integrated renewable energy sources waste water treatment and grey water recycling that is of high importance for the region, as well as the latest green building technologies and management planning systems. The rain water harvested during the rainy season (November to March) will be led to municipal rain water storages in order to replenish municipal water resources.

The Project will be supplied with heating and cooling energy from the Jordan District Energy Company (the “JDE”) – the first private energy utility for district heating and cooling in the SEMED region. JDE will supply the entire Adbali district under a performance based energy supply contract.

The goals of the project are: to provide food, entertainment and retail space in an area where it is lacking, to support the urban regeneration of the centre of Amman, to help provide employment to the local population and to develop the building in a highly sustainable way. In addition the Project will provide an additional retail channel for locally produced food and agricultural products and handcrafts.

The Project, to be built in one single phase, will have a gross buildable area of over 227,000 square meters with 5 levels of leasable area and 5 underground levels with 2,500 parking places. It will provide international quality space where sustainability is a core element of each phase of the project – from planning and design to construction and operation using new and innovative solutions for the first time in the region.

Importantly the Project will offer employment and career opportunities for the local population by addressing the inequality of economic opportunity in relation to youth during the construction and operational phases when several thousand new jobs will be created and the most recent industry know-how and expertise will be transferred to the local market and its stakeholders.

Overall, the Project will support the urban regeneration of this area of the city by helping to create a new central business district in Amman on a brownfield site, thus stimulating further investment in Amman as a new business hub in the region.

Transition Impact

The Project’s transition impact will most likely stem from the following:

Skills transfer and access to employment during the construction and operational phases of the Project.
Setting standards, mainly through demonstration to other developers active in the region of advanced building sustainability solutions and techniques applied in the Project.

The Client

Abdali Mall Company, a private shareholding company incorporated under the laws of Jordan and owned by United Real Estate Company – Jordan and Abdali Investment & Development Psc.

Abdali Investment & Development Psc. is the masterplan developer of the Abdali Urban Regeneration project.

United Real Estate Company – Jordan is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Real Estate Company (the “Sponsor”), one of the leading real estate development companies in the MENA region with operations in retail, hospitality, office and residential segments. The Sponsor is the Lead Manager on the Project. The Sponsor has been listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since 1984 and is a subsidiary of Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO.

EBRD Finance

A senior loan of up to US$ 80 million.

Project Cost

US$ 299 million.

Environmental Impact

Categorised B. The process of environmental and social due diligence is complete. Due diligence focused on the Bank financed project i.e. the development of the Abdali Centre, although aspects of the broader Abdali regeneration scheme were considered to set the Abdali Centre Project in context. An ESAP will address environmental performance record keeping, public and worker grievance mechanisms, a life and fire safety audit and benefit sharing activities. The Client has agreed the use of the public space in the shopping mall for cultural and environmental advocacy activities, as well as, small stalls for the selling of local goods and traditional products in particular of women and young people running small businesses.

In terms of labour standards, please note that the Bank requires all its clients to comply with the Bank’s Performance Requirements (PRs), including PR 2 on Labour and Working Conditions with the objective to support the decent work agenda and provide technical advice whereby necessary.

Traffic issues

The master plan of the Abdali regeneration scheme provides ground-breaking solutions to be used for the first time in the region including highly efficient pedestrian-focused traffic solutions. The Abdali Centre Project site is triangular in shape and has a main road to the South, with high vehicular traffic at peak times. There are two secondary roads, forming the Western and Eastern boundaries of the plot – one of these is already built and the other is under-construction. As per the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) agreed with the Client, the Client will develop an adequate traffic management plan and implement control measures to prevent injury to third parties (e.g. shoppers, visitors, nearby residents, etc.).

Utility grid

The Abdali regeneration scheme, including the Abdali Centre, will be supplied by Jordan District Energy that will act as the exclusive provider of district cooling and heating services. For waste water sanitary waste waters will be discharged to the municipal system. The Abdali Centre Project will include a large-scale grey water treatment technology facility which will collect and treat grey water from common areas, showers and sinks, and reuse it for irrigation and flushing purposes will be installed in the project. This will be the first use of such technologies in a commercial building in Jordan.

Implementation Summary

The Project introduced the first international quality, energy efficient and sustainable retail and entertainment centre in Amman with GLA of 63.5k square meters. It’s developed and owned by one of the leading real estate developers in the MENA region, thus contributing to the development of Amman’s retail landscape. Despite significantly deteriorated market conditions, the mall’s operations launched in April 2016 with some delay and minor cost overruns. The Project is a key component of Phase I in a major regeneration of the Amman city centre and one of the largest of this kind in the SEMED region.

As a part of its Transition impact, the EBRD supported the client in establishing and operationalizing the Abdali Mall Recruitment and Training Centre (AMRTC). AMRTC officially opened in October 2016 and has provided training and career guidance for young Jordanians and Syrians in retail and hospitality, in partnership with local vocational schools, job centres, and employers. More than 1,700 beneficiaries have graduated from AMRTC to date, of whom over 60% are women.

Technical Cooperation

A consultant will be engaged under the Quick Assessment of Energy Performance of Built Environment Projects Support Framework, funded by the Government of Norway.

The consultant will conduct an energy audit, review technical design, and assess energy performance and compliance with the international energy benchmarks.

Company Contact

United Real Estate – Jordan
Contact Name: General Enquiries
e-mail: info@urc.com.jo

T (+962-6) 5664372
F (+962-6) 5664371

United Real Estate – Kuwait
Contact Name: Asset Management Department
e-mail: AssetManagement@urc.com.kw

T (+965) 1805 225 Ext 2213
F (+965) 2244 1003

Website: http://www.urconline.com

Transition impact

ETI Score:60

PSD last updated

15 Nov 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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