Cyprus set for landmark Marina
NEW AYIA NAPA ADDITION PROMISES TO BE A JEWEL IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
It may have taken two decades,but the wait could prove to have been well worth with.
Described as that will be ‘ the jewel marina resort of the eastern Mediterranean’, the long-anticipated Makronissos Marina aims to be landmark, outperforming many established marinas worldwide. Set in a secure environment ,the project developers promise to deliver, among other things, ample green spaces, sports grounds, swimming pools, water features, walkways, plazas, a heliport, a yacht club and a crew lounge while all the residents will have the choice to call upon the hotel type services available at all the times.
‘’ It has been a long and hard struggle to get to the signatures for this deal’’, Ayia Napa Mayor Antonis Tsokkos told .’’ This is something historic for Ayia Napa and for Cyprus and will greatly boost tourism in the area. The construction of this marina will hopefully make the community of Ayia Napa much stronger.’’
Locals residents are also in favour of the new marina.
‘’I think it ‘s fantastic for the area’’, said local resident Dan Healy.’’ Ayıa Napa needs a good marina and I think this is a really smart move by the government. Tourism in general could do with a boost in Cyprus and marinas are certainly the right way to go about it.’’
With the works set to cost around euro220m on the 30.000sq metres of land, the new luxury marina will provide 600berths for yachts up to 60 metres in length.
Undertaking the project will be MM Makronisos Ltd. – a consortium made up of Caramondani Bros., Atlas Pantou, G&A Toumazis, Fama Marina and CCI of Famagusta. Boaters will be offered the best possible facilities and amenities both on land and in the water. There will also be a 10,500 square metre yard area for maintenance and repair services.
In a written announcement, the contractors say’’ the residential development will also be equally unique and exceptional with state of the art architecture satisfying today’s discerning buyers’ needs and preferences It comprises a selection of proprieties: 53 luxury detached houses situated on two exclusive sandy beaches,222 modern apartments on two high rise buildings and 20 town houses. All properties enjoy unobstructed views of the Mediterranean Sea.
‘’Furthermore, in the marina’s commercial centre ( buildings 4,900 square metres),a lively and rejuvenating area, one will be able to find a selection of dining, entertainment and wellness providers’’.
Getting the final contracts signed to move ahead with contracting the marina was a pain-staking process said Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis during the signing ceremony last month. The contracts related to administrative and employment agreements as well as to agreements concerning the management of the marina.
The Cypriot government had been advised by Greek architectural firm Antonopoulus-Rogan Associates in the early nineties to explore the possibility of opening up marinas as a means to boost its nautical tourism infrastructure.
The government, agreed but efforts to actually get the marinas up and running had for years been hampered by what former Cyprus Tourism Organisation Chairman Panos Englezos described as ‘’ gigantic bureaucratic procedures not allowing the enforcement of the projects. ’’Six ministers and two different governments later, the groundwork has finally been laid down for construction to begin on the new Ayia Napa marina while other there are also in the pipeline else where on the island.
‘’Our aim is to continuously expand our horizons with regards to tourism and marinas are a vital part of that vision’’ , commented the minister.’’ It has taken many years to get to where we are today. We have so for managed to move ahead with two of the five marinas planned –in Limassol and now in Ayia Napa’’. And with the current economic climate, the constraction of a new marina couldn’t come any sooner. The property market is at an all-time low and the Cypriots government is desperately trying to reach out to more overseas property buyers.They will be hopping that the new marina could help kick-start demand.
One of the men behind MM Makronisos Ltd.- Stavros Caramondani-outlined the next steps with regards to construction .
‘’The master-plan has been approved but it will take around two years to receive the necessary buildings permits as well as approval from departments such as Town Planning.’’
The bulldozers are expected to break ground in April 2014.Already, as is clearly visible, no time was wasted in constructing roads and walkways where the marina is set to be built.
‘’The fact that the lighting and the access roads leading into the marina are already in place is an absolute first for Cyprus. This is obviously something very positive for the marina when you consider, for example, other construction like the GSP which had access roads built many years later ‘’.
A new sewage system for the area has also been set-up. The overall duration of the works is expected to take up to three years and will open up 3,000 jobs once completed.
Meanwhile, the Limassol Marina is set to open at the end of this year, providing 1,000 berths up to 115 metre while there are also plans to get marinas up and running in Paphos,Paralimni and Larnaca.
