Posts Tagged ‘Solidere’
Those militia/mafia “leaders” who bankrupted the Lebanese at all levels?
A contest of who are the worst highway robbers of the State budget.
Late Rafic Hariri PM appointed most of the current corrupt “civil servants” in many institutions, particularly in the financial sectors institutions (Central Bank), the airline, the waste collection, the Beirut Real Estates (Solidere) and infrastructure projects, and directly linked to him and Not being controlled by any government administrations.
Nabi Berry and Walid Jumblatt had the monopoly for importing the “laced” and far below standard fuels and chains of the private providers for electricity, and the private financial “Boxes” (sanadeek) for the southern districts and the Lebanese refugees during the civil war, and the cement monopoly.
There are over 60 public institutions directly linked to the Prime Minister, to belong from the religious Sunni Muslim sect.
Beirut Shoreline and Corniche: Before and after Solidere catastrophic tampering
Posted on: February 17, 2016
Beirut Shoreline: Before and after Solidere catastrophic tampering
One of the great things about the internet is that there is just so much floating around out there–like all the plans for Beirut that seemed to have magically disappeared.
Habib Battah shared The Beirut Report‘s post
There was/is(?) a plan to re-create part of the old promenade of Beirut, the original corniche, which was known as Avenue des Francais:
Today’s seaside esplanade or corniche is an extension of this historic Avenue.
But the bay was filled in with garbage during the Lebanese war and according to Solidere (the private firm of Rafic Hariri holding that was created to rebuild central Beirut) the original coastline was “lost” and the plan was to use the garbage dump as a landfill and further extend the shoreline, thus creating hundreds of thousands more square meters of real estate property in the process.
For now, we won’t get into the controversy of how Solidere was formed and who profits from it (I’ve written about that extensively here and here).
Instead, let’s look at one of the many promises it made to the public to build green and publicly accessible space as part of its rebuilding narrative.
One of these projects is called Shoreline Walk, a series of interlinking gardens retracing the original coastal outline of the city as seen in the top photo of the Avenue. It’s marked below by red lines.
We can also see how the large landfill created a new coastline enclosed by a new breakwater sea wall and yacht marina (which has also become a cash cow for Soldiere):
Designed by the London-based firm Gustafson Porter, The Shoreline Walk was meant to “restore the energy and vigour of the old Corniche promenade” with “green infrastructure” that aims to “re-establish east-west links and connect together a series of new public squares and gardens for the enjoyment of the community,” according to the firm’s website, which contains the images below:
The project was designed 14 years ago in 2002 and expected to be completed by 2010 at a cost of 5 million GBP (around $7.2 million) according to a company presentation.
So where is it now? I’ve been living in Lebanon for most of my life and I’ve never seen or heard of it.
Here is an image of the design from Gustafson:
It wasn’t easy to place the gardens on today’s Google map because so much has been constructed. So I resorted to an old aerial shot from the late 1990s to align the plots:
And here it is with a rough overlay of where the “Shoreline Walk” should be:
As compared to:
So where is it?
Conceived 14 years ago, it’s due date is nearly six years past, and beyond a few shrubs and a short row of sidewalk trees, the area remains largely baren and off limits to the public.
The only garden that is completed is Zaytouneh Square, on the lower left.
But in reality, this is a hardscape space with few trees or shade:
A far cry from what seems a virtual rainforest in artist conceptions:
Indeed, Solidere’s overall “green spaces” map looks a lot more green on paper:
…than it does in reality:
On the other hand, the company seems to have had no trouble fulfilling its promise to construct blocks of high end towers for sale, with very few undeveloped plots remaining.
Yet Solidere’s green map is often touted in presentations and interviews with the press.
Soldiere’s urban planner recently told design students at a university conference that the city center contains “60 parks and public spaces.” Many students were probably left wondering where these are, as the presentation did not specify if these were existing or planned projects.
In fact, Solidere has plenty of parks and public projects on paper.
These include a range of archeological gardens, museums, fountain pools, even a large “central park” on the reclaimed new waterfront as seen above in the company map.
But 22 years after Solidere began excavations in 1994, few of these spaces have materialized.
And as seen by the example of the tiled Zaytouneh Square, the spaces that have been built often take the shape of sterile expanses with little seating that feel more like modern art to compliment private properties around them rather than inviting spaces for the general public to enjoy.
But is that even the goal? Would the general public, most of whom are poor, be invited to mingle amongst the high security multi-million dollar apartments and luxury shops of the city center?
The Shoreline Walk was celebrated in a piece published last year by a landscape magazine which described the completed phase– Zaytouneh Square– as “daring, unique and dramatic.”
It added: “The sleek, bold, ultra-modern look of the square matches the character of the surrounding buildings and gives us the impression of a more modern, edgy Beirut
Here’s another image of that space:
Personally, I have never seen more than a handful of people loitering around the area and many of them tend to be private security. But will this change when the other “gardens” are completed? Will they be more green than this?
Although the magazine article was published last year, curiously it makes no reference to the 14 years that have passed since Shoreline Walk was announced, neither does it ask any questions about when it will be ready. Soldiere’s web page on the Shoreline Walk also provides no explanation for the delay or any revised completion dates.
Perhaps the firm will say that political turmoil has hurt progress. Yet why has the same political turmoil not affected the completion of residential towers, sprawling condominiums with hanging gardens, a yacht marina and high end seafront shopping center (Zaitunay Bay) that have all been completed over the last decade? Are glass and steel towers easier to build than minimalist landscaped gardens?
Or does the $8 billion firm prioritize real estate gains for its investors over public space for the community? Perhaps someone out there has the answer.
Are sterile shopping malls proof enough of growing gap between rich and poor? Lebanon case
Posted on: March 10, 2015
Are sterile shopping malls proof enough of growing gap between rich and poor? Lebanon case
The destruction of cities in Syria and the terror tactics in Iraq are the focus of the world’s attention (at least publically).
In this context it might seem churlish to draw attention to the problems of another city in the Middle East such as Beirut, not currently in the midst of conflict.
The “soft” destruction of Beirut is something that many of its citizens – who have seen their fair share of civil war – are watching with horror.
The greed of Lebanon’s politicians and real estate developers is slowly but surely decomposing the city’s social fabric. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is now wider than ever.
‘The Beirut souks were once a place where the scent of rare spices filled the air. Today, all you can smell in are cleaning detergents and what you hear is ambient music.’ Photograph: Mattia Sobieski/Alamy
To understand the nature of real estate development in Beirut, one needs simply visit the new city centre, which was rebuilt after the civil war (1975-90) by a company called Solidere.
The new centre boasts expensively restored French-era buildings which, apart from some shops and offices, remain eerily empty, “A movie set”, to quote a Canadian film professor.
As for the newly refurbished Beirut souks, they were once a place where merchants haggled and the scent of rare spices filled the air.
Today, all you can smell in this open-air shopping mall are cleaning detergents, and what you hear is ambient music. Hardly a word of Arabic can be heard – even emergency signs are in English. “This could well be Heathrow airport,” noted one British visitor.
The most unsettling thing about the city centre is its “exclusive” aspect.
Although its shops are not necessarily aimed at wealthy visitors (as is often claimed), it is a good Lebanese example of what some have called “hostile architecture”.
Run like a private property, its streets are lined with surveillance cameras and security guards, some with watchdogs. Try to photograph the synagogue or stop in awe in front of an old church and prepare to be swarmed by paranoid guards.
This “hostile architecture” has set a trend across the country, especially among politicians and the ruling class.
While some old aristocratic families, such as the Sursock-Cochranes, have maintained a certain tradition of hospitality and kept their gardens open to the general public, members of the current elite have turned their Beirut residences into veritable fortresses inside the city, squatting public space.
Stories abound about unwitting passers-by being harassed by the private security guards who surround these residences.
While men in power take hold of entire districts, other parts of the city are being gentrified. These include the district of Mar Mikhael, with its charming traditional houses.
A century ago, survivors of the Armenian genocide and their children took refuge here and made their livelihoods from craftsmanship.
For four years, trendy bars and art galleries have been sprouting up next to garages and repair shops, attracting a more affluent, differently educated population. Real estate predators soon followed, destroying some of the traditional houses in favour of oversized luxury towers.
Out of fear of being completely driven away, to the outskirts of the city, the more modestly earning Armenians crossed out the name of the main street in Mar Mikhael and re-named it “Armenia Street”.
The great canyon separating the social classes in Lebanon can be seen in no more spectacular manner than in Mar Mikhael.
On my visit to a trendy art bookstore there, I found a glossy publication in which was gathered articles and work by the glitterati of the Beirut “conceptual art” scene. One feature displayed objects gleaned in a poor Beirut suburb, such as a matchbox and other everyday utensils, as if they were exotic finds in a faraway land of savages.
This could well have been the catalogue of a colonial exhibition in 19th-century Europe.
While trendy districts and luxury projects are beneficial to the economy, could they not be designed to be more inclusive? As the rich and powerful Lebanese barricade themselves in squatted land and gated communities, the poorer population is being confined to the margins and inside refugee camps.
As for the public space in between, it is either slowly disappearing or turned into shopping malls and parking lots. A paradox to be pondered, in a time when new technologies are meant to bring people together.
Beirut Rare Green square in Verdun: Cleared for Concrete? High, medium or no Towers?
Posted on: February 16, 2014
Rare Verdun greenery cleared for another mall
 |
| Photo: Qaph blog |
 |
| Photo: Gino’s Blog |
 |
| Photo: Skyscraper City |
 |
| Photo: Skyscraper city |
But those plans, which included a hotel/residential tower and cineplex, have changed markedly over the years. From 2005:
 |
| Photo: Skyscraper city |
To 2008, where the tower seems to have been reduced significantly, according to this picture posted on Skyscraper city, which still exists on the Horizon website: 
To no towers at all in 2013, according to this rendering published by Beirut.com early last year:
Downtown Beirut: Memory erased…
Posted on: January 21, 2014
Downtown Beirut: Memory erased…
Habib Battah published in the January issue of Al Jazeera Digital Magazine, available on iTunes.
 |
| Downtown Beirut was bustling with hooka cafes before the conflict in Syria, catering mainly to wealthy tourists from the Arab Gulf countries. Now waitstaff stand around, fearing the loss of their jobs. |
 |
| Over a dozen restaurants have closed on the main strip in the central district this year and dozens more store fronts on side streets remain unoccupied. |
 |
| There are more pigeons than customers on an average day in the city center. Critics say the scheme to rebuild old Beirut created a Disneyland effect, replacing the once gritty streets that drew a mix of social class with an island for the wealthy, divorced from the rest of the city. |
 |
| With rows of empty buildings, it is unclear how many shops remain vacant in Beirut’s central district. Unable to afford the high cost of maintenance imposed by Solidere, most original tenants have been forced to surrender their properties in exchange for shares in the company |
 |
| Each night the tables are set and the televisions are turned on in the hopes of luring customers. Staff say they would be lucky to fill two to three tables per night. |
 |
| Despite the lack of business, cafe owners are faced with some of the highest rental prices in Beirut. If the lack of tourism continues, the few remaining outlets are expected to close. |
Hot posts this week (Feb. 24/2013)
Posted on: March 2, 2013
- Hot posts this week (Feb. 24/2013)
- Do Egypt Moslem Brothers have established a State within a State?
- The Onion to Sue Lebanon: Political system far beyond the reach of satire?
- Iran’s Nuclear-Technology is Gaining ground and modernity: Are Sanctions Backfiring and initiating creative alternatives
- Typical modern Neoliberal Expatriate Contractor class in Lebanon political/social structure. Part 4
- Stoned, naked, armed and dangerous: Disturbing images from Israeli soldier’s Instagram
- Is the superpower Club of the 5 Surrendering To North Korea? They already detonated countless atomic bombs…
- Heart Attack? Your Smart Phone Might Just Save Your Life
- Reconstruction of Beirut city center? Like Solidere? By whom again?
- Forced to wed her rapist, killed herself: Who is the Morocco Amina Filali?
A dozen Lebanese confessional rodents in dialogue around a conference table (March 2nd, 2006)
The President of the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Nabih Berri, has purchased in Italy an expensive round table designed to gather twelve confessional leaders so that they feel comfortable to dialogue for an entire week, on important matters that are splitting the political leaders after the withdrawal of the Syrian forces.
In January 9, 2006 I wrote an article entitled “The process of a written confessional Constitution in progress and Live”, which expressed my strong apprehension that all this political entanglements and hysteric pronouncements were meant as a positioning strategy for agreeing on appropriate shares among the protagonists for the public pie.
This famous table was installed in the House of Representative in Downtown Beirut so that the whole Downtown has been closed off to traffic and commerce for the duration of this extraordinary event. More than 3,000 security forces were tied down to protect these all famous heads, meant to brainstorm and pick each other minds for the benefit of a stable, secure, independent, self-determined, and free Lebanon from any foreign interventions or meddling in its internal affairs.
This dialogue is secretive and dubiously undemocratic for those non sectarian sections of our society: historically, secular political parties and civic associations were never asked to participate in any dialogue, and they were not invited to participate in the discussion for the framework and foundation of a future Lebanon.
The government, formed a year ago, as a national unity from the majority of the Parliament, based on a flawed electoral system, and headed by Fouad Sanyoura, a Hariri employee, has proven to be a total failure and acting as if the insecurity, instability and economic deterioration are not its responsibilities. The Minister of the Interior, Mr. Sabe3 (Lion), another Hariri employee, told live all the Lebanese citizens that he is impotent in locating and prosecuting the “ghosts” who have been blowing up a dozen leading men and commercial centers.
The Minister of the Treasury, Mr. Azhour, an extra Hariri employee, has been postponing temporarily and probably indefinitely the meeting of “Beirut One” Conference of the parties supposed to infuse our economy with financial liquidity: we are learning that the well meaning money providers are not satisfied with the promised reforms and have strong apprehension that the money will not be going into the proper channels or distributed for any kind of economic or social reforms.
Worst, the only financial news that the impoverished Lebanese hate the most and might be applied are the additional taxes to keeping the inflated, bloated, and badly run government administrative institutions floating.
So far, the only decrees extracted from the so-called legitimate political Constitution were directed at strengthening the grasp of Solidere on its holding in Downtown Beirut; everyone knows that Solidere is a Real Estate holding company and basically a private company owned by the Hariri family, its Saudi Royalty Princes and its acolytes in the “Future Movement” who plundered Lebanon during the Syrian hegemony.
The Syrian forces, army, security and intelligence services, have already vacated Lebanon 10 months ago, the former four Lebanese Generals in charge of security and intelligence are detained “pending further conviction materials” on their cover ups or participation in the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The government has replaced these security people with their own people and yet, Syria is directly blamed for any insecurity in the land and the politicians in power are still shouting: “Syria go home. No Syrian interventions in Lebanon”.
The government and its allies in the majority are explicitly and vociferously accusing the President of the Republic as the remaining Syrian stooge and are demanding his resignation as illegitimate; they even went as far as stooping very low and dishonoring the Nation by gathering signed affidavits from current and former deputies claiming they voted under duress for the extension of the President’s tenure for another three years.
Now, why these infamous leaders have to meet in the Parliament instead of a remote mountainous resort and spare the people all these expenses, security mobilization, economic disruption, and disturbing the peace in Downtown Beirut? I think most Lebanese citizens would have appreciated the “Berri’s Table” to be transferred to a secure prison where the sleeping quarters are fitted out in solitary cells for the leading rodents.
Why this extraordinary dialogue is not acknowledged to be the responsibility of the representative elected members of the Parliament? Is not the Parliament the normal and legitimate body to set the political guidelines and enact the body of laws? For an entire year, we heard live on cables, television, and radio the explicit political and ideological positions of these leaders and their allies and we have been vomiting every one of their hysteric and unfounded pronouncements, except for the well balanced speeches, rational attitudes, and clean hands of Michel Aoun and Hassan Nasr Allah.
A committee was formed to study and recommend a fair electoral system to replace the badly flawed previous system, supposedly designed and engineered by the Syrian regime, and it just announced that it finished its job after analyzing 200 proposals from political parties, civil associations and individuals. Guess what? The committee finished on time before the meeting of the famous twelve brave knights.
Do you like to guess what the proposed and unpublished electoral system is? Well, it is temporary to suit the current political climate! Not many are fooled in Lebanon and not only we suspect, but we are completely certain that this dialogue is meant to split the pie among the confessional parties. The twelve gurus will agree on their shares in the important key political positions and how to tailor make the electoral system to fit their needs. As you guessed, they will again claim that the political solution “arrived at” is necessarily temporary, as has always been the case since the Independence of Lebanon in 1943.
Around an expensive table are gathered a bunch of rotten apples that, within a week, will ultimately affect the few healthy ones, unless the good apples turn the table over the opportunist and highway robbers of the rotten political heads, and lead the Nation toward definitive self determination, reforms and drastic political changes.
Adonis Diaries 