Exporting Solidere

Plastic sheets with slick photos and generic names like “The Candy Shop” covering storefronts make Amman’s The Boulevard look less empty than it is. Some five years after initially planned, the $423 million project officially opened to the public on June 14, but of the 22,000 square meters dedicated to shops, cafes and restaurants, only 30 percent are leased, says Joseph Helou, chairman of Abdali Investment and Development PSC, a part owner. Covering a total 40,000 square meters of land, The Boulevard consists of 12 buildings flanking a 370-meter long, 21-meter wide pedestrian walkway and represents just over 10 percent of the now decade-old Abdali Urban Regeneration project. The development — a work in progress valued at around $5 billion — is the brainchild of the late former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Planning for profit Abdali Investment and Development began in 2004 as a