The Beirut effect

Those who predicted that the towering, luxury residential developments in the BCD and its immediate environs would become a sad testament to unbridled optimism and crushed potential had better think again. The war is over; long live the peace. So say the major developers, who are reporting that prices are holding. And while demand may have dipped during and after the conflict, they are also talking of sustained confidence among Gulf investors, negligible cancellations, and sales enquiries when none was expected. Karim Bassil, chairman of the developers Brei and the man behind the successful Convivium brand, is sitting in his Gemmaizeh office with Brei’s general manager Antoine Khoury. “I have just been traveling in the region to get a feel for the mood and found out that things have not changed as far as investor confidence is concerned,” says the man with a (comparatively modest) real estate portfolio of $80