Sodic, one of the region’s leading real estate development companies, has acquired a 500-acre plot in an auction held by New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). With this move, the company's undeveloped land bank has risen to 8 million sq m.

The plot is located in the Sheikh Zayed Extension area, a 10 minutes’ drive from Sodic West, the group's flagship mixed-use community in West Cairo.

The project will boast more than 5,000 residential units, and leverage off Sodic’s strength in creating vibrant mixed-use full-fledged communities.

The deal entitles NUCA to total payments of E£14.2 billion ($791 million) over 11 years of which E£8.5 billion are fixed instalments, in addition to 15 per cent of the annual collections. The projected payments imply a land cost per sq m of E£2,300 on a net present value basis discounted at 16 per cent.

On the plot acquisition, managing director Magued Sherif said: "The addition of these 500 acres brings our undeveloped land bank to 8 million sq m, thus giving Sodic a runway of at least 10 years of development. The addition comes timely as we have almost completely developed our 1,500-acre flagship development Sodic West, now a vibrant community home to over 22,000 residents."

The 500-acre plot was offered on a partnership basis in a large land offering of 6,000 acres by NUCA in which the Egyptian developer had taken part in December 2017.-TradeArabia News Service