Beirut’s irrepressible optimism for property investors

From a distance, one observes the birth of a new skyline — sprouting towers of elegant bricks, mortar and concrete that will house an eclectic range of people who choose to live in Beirut, a city with a raw database of stories with even more plots and twists than the latest Hollywood movie. These flawlessly finished apartments, kaleidoscope designs and stainless kitchens do, however, also come with a somewhat jaw-dropping price tag for a non-utopian city. Apartments in the tower blocks facing the marina, for example, are $1 million plus, this being considered a modest figure by the many that have already sold “off-plan.” A recent report by Bank Audi on Lebanese real estate records over 35,000 property transactions in the third quarter of 2007 alone. The political climate of the country is no secret, with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund rating the investment risk of the nation