Invested development

ENAR

A house is more than just a home. It is also an investment vehicle that, if things go well, can produce handsome earnings. With real estate producing double digit returns in recent years, especially in Beirut, it should not come as a surprise that Lebanon’s banks and investment firms are increasingly in on the action. Dozens of projects have been realized despite the fact that Banque du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank, explicitly prohibits banks from developing real estate unless it concerns offices, branches or housing units for staff. The most common way around BDL’s legal hurdles seems to be the creation or acquisition of a separate subsidiary dedicated to property development. Blominvest Bank in 2010, for example, established its real estate unit “to originate, structure and manage projects” on behalf of its clients. In a similar fashion, Mawarid Bank owns Al Mawarid Real Estate (AMRE), while the Saradar Group