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29 September 2017 – Diario Sur
The Chilean investment management company Osim has initiated the development of a series of projects along the Costa del Sol where it plans to invest around €480 million in total. The company is going to make its debut in Casares, where today (Friday) it will present a real estate project comprising more than 400 homes and involving an investment of €200 million, which will materialise over the next four years.
The site in question is the Alcazaba Lagoon urbanisation, where 92 homes have already been built and where another 340 units are expected to be constructed. This urbanisation, which will be officially unveiled tonight, includes a giant artificial lake, which occupies a surface area of 1.4 hectares and has an average depth of 2.5 metres. It is the first development of this kind to be undertaken in Europe.
The project comes in response to an initiative by the company, formed by the Chilean entrepreneurs Óscar Lería and Patricio Rojas, who through the management company Osim are planning to channel the arrival of capital from Chile into several real estate projects to be developed over the next few years in Marbella, Estepona, Torremolinas and Málaga capital, according to comments made by Lería to Diario Sur.
The businessman explained that Alcazaba Lagoon represents the rescue of a project started in 2006 in Casares. Construction was suspended during the years of the crisis and has now has been brought back to life with the construction of the artificial lake and the redesign of the whole site, which will now comprise a block development with 78 units (…). The Town Hall of Casares has already granted the property developer the building permit for the first block.
According to Lería, the artificial lake forms the centrepiece of the complete rethink of the original project and has been the pet project of the architect Hugo Torrico. The development of housing blocks, which has also involved the modernisation of the original plans, has been carried out by three Chilean architects: Cristian Larrain, Jaime Hernández and Diego Aigeren.
Lería explains that the water feature, as well as forming the central part of the project, represents an absolute innovation in Europe, offering several advantages and not only functionally speaking, given that it contains an artificial beach 6km from the coast, where people can practice water sports. Moreover, he explains, the maintenance of the lake requires a water cost of less than 50% of that of a garden, twenty times less than that of a golf course and 100 times less than that of swimming pools with the same volume of water.
The homes have asking prices ranging between €250,000 and €500,000 and are aimed primarily at the foreign market, with British buyers in the lead.
According to data provided by the company, the residential complex will result in the creation of around 3,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction and sales process and for the maintenance of the facilities.
Original story: Diario Sur (by Héctor Barbotta)
Translation: Carmel Drake