Beirut Cultural and Conference Center (BCCC)

Manara - Beirut, Lebanon


http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5674/bccccuk8.jpg



Location: Avenue de Paris, Beirut, Lebanon

Client: Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL)

Total Land Surface Area: 56,000 m2

Total Built-up Area: 400,000 m2

Total project cost: USD 350 million

Services provided: Conceptual Design - Preliminary Design - Detailed design - Tender Documents - Supervision of works



The Beirut Cultural and Conferences Center (BCCC) aims at strengthening Lebanon's position as a center for conferences and exhibitions serving the entire Middle East region.


The project is earmarked to house dedicated state-of-the-art conference and exhibition centers sprouted on a 56,000 square meters prime location in Beirut. It will feature cutting-edge technology, multi-purpose boardrooms and business support centers. BCCC will also comprise hotels, a sport center, a commercial retail area and several cultural amenities. BCCC will be executed by a mixed (public/private) joint stock company.




Beirut Cultural & Conference Centre – BCCC:

This US$360 Million project will be built on a 60.000m² plot of land and will consist of a five star and a four start hotels, conference & congress centre, commercial & leisure centre, exhibition centre.

Owners : The investment Development Authority of Lebanon - IDAL is in the process of creating a new company to raise funds, develop and manage the project.

Status : TRI Hospitality Consulting (UK) conducted the feasibility study.
The Project is now on hold.


Location:

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/638/bcccyj1.jpg

Activity on the site - July 2006:

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3682/n127100217300323779779sa4.jpg

I really hope they build this, it will be very nice!

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/431/sdj8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

WOOOOOOOOOOOW,NADINI,thanx
Don't worry,they will,it was hariri's next project for lebanon.and the family is commited to it :)

This was Hariri's dream project. It would be constructed by now if it wasn't for the political bickering.

Activity on the site,,,DECEMBER 2006.


http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1577/bcccvx9.jpg

^^ I think it has been determined now that this activity is unrelated to the BCCC project.

Yes, I support what you say Beirut! :)

I think whats happening here is the soil that is being removed from other construction sites (maybe Astoria?) is being moved here temporarily. The same is happening in the plot next to the Burger King Rouche where the soil dug from Dream Bay is being dumped there.

Is the Manara rebuild, it looks so from the photo.

no its not, look at the top its still damaged

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/Beirutconf-1.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf9.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf8.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf7.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf6.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf5.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf4.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/beirutconf3.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/Beirutconf2.jpg

^^ So do these renderings imply that this project still has some hope? Could the architects be contacted regarding the status?

Also, is it just me or is the last rendering posted not scaled properly???

Thanks AmeriLeb, its really amazing to see this mega project more clearly.

I hope this project becomes reality one day.It's one of the Best in Beirut.and being outside BCD area gives it more credit.

Its on hold...it was a Hairi project..I think they will build it because studies showed it would be highly feasible..bring in more conference business and make Beirut a more important city. The goverment was going to supply the very valuable land and it was going to be built on a BOT (Build operate Transfer) basis. I love the design..

I think once things get settled politically it is going to resurface..and yes that last pic make it look like a supertall !!! lol

i just heard on new tv during a talk show that the government just gave solidere the land to start with the foundation but the introduction on post #1 said idal, so im comfused could it be a diffrent project they called it "kasr l mo2tamarat"?

^^ Well this plot is far from the BCD, but if it is true that it is now owned by Solidere, then we should expect some major progress soon!

^^ i sure hope so

i just heard on new tv during a talk show that the government just gave solidere the land to start with the foundation but the introduction on post #1 said idal, so im comfused could it be a diffrent project they called it "kasr l mo2tamarat"?

IDAL is a government agency that helps promote and facilitate economic development in Lebanon. It helps investors bypass all the "red tape" by filing paper work for them, applying for permits, etc. and it also offers incentives in the form of tax breaks. They don't themselves develop projects.

This maybe where Solidere comes in. Remember that Solidere is no longer just about the Beirut Central District. They are investing outside of Lebanon now also. They have some nice projects going on in Egypt.

Anyway, this would be a really great project for Beirut and all of Lebanon. This was Rafic Hariri's dream project. Unfortunately the time is not ripe for such a project right now. Let's hope for a better future.

IDAL was in charge of promoting the project (like BETZ) and finding the investors who will build operate and transfer it back(BOT). If this is true the goverment will have a percentage (the land value as there investment) and Solidere the rights to build it. But the land and the project will not be controlled and owned by Solidere

The area is turning to what seems a construction site.
any news abt the project?

^^ is it the same as post #6 or new stuff ??

yeah i guess it is...
hehe for how long can i still play the "I'm new here" card?
hehe sorry

what is ? cause activity in post #6 are not related to this project .............................
.................and not that long i guess :)

I was wondering, has there been any progress, in terms re-activating this project?

thanks

amazing project, it should go ahead asap!

Any news about the project?
I think they would be bringing it back now that a "Hariri" is a prime minister again.

with the fast approaching demise of Biel we will def need this to start now...we can capture so much conference buisness with this and the hotels.

This project is extremly financially feasible according to the studies.

I emailed IDAL to see if this was still a possibilty but i found a study with more details. The outline was only available..but more facts:

2 hotels:
5 Star 690 rooms
3 Star 308 Rooms
Serviced Apartments 200
Total: 998 Hotel rooms and 200 Apts! Massive !

This is a congress center and convention center

That convention centre seems massive. Lets hope they start soon!... The Emile Lahoud Convention Centre, can that hold large scale events ?

We will need this project to replace BIEL!

This project has become more feasible if anything...Lebanon is missing out on trade conferences and exhibitions. This would massive and attrct more buisness people and have many spillover effects. Its not hard to imagine lebanon and Beirut to benifit to the tune of $1 billion annually and employ thousands.

Hariri says Beirut will soon have a new conference building

January 29, 2010

During the opening of an economic and business conference on Friday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that a new conference building would be launched soon in Beirut.

According to the PM, Lebanon is on the verge on a new phase of economic growth. He called for enhancing Lebanon’s international and Arab role.

Lebanon needs a private-sector friendly atmosphere to attract investors, he said.

Hariri added that ensuring employment opportunities for the Lebanese is a cabinet priority.

-NOW Lebanon

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=142297

One can only hope...

I HOPE THIS IS IN REFERENCE TO THIS PROJECT IT WOULD BE AMAZING..AND ITS ALL DONE AND DESIGNED

Hello Amerileb - I noticed there is the name 'Laceco Architects' on these renderings in post 12- Are they the designers of the BCCC?

Yes

Do you think they might re-design it for the relaunch!?

Courtesy of ~ v

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4360568453_d2bd04f058_b.jpg

HMM wonder if this is the same:

Safi urges donors to make opera house vision a reality
By The Daily Star

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Listen to the Article - Powered by



BEIRUT: When the two famous writers Gibran Khalil Gibran and Amin al-Rihani visited London, they were awe-struck by the Royal Opera House and dreamed of one day building a similar house in Lebanon.

Another renowned Lebanese singer and composer, Wadih al-Safi, expressed the same dream on Wednesday during a news conference he held at the Press Federation’s head office.

Safi called on Lebanese expats and on willing countries to donate money and to help Lebanon construct the opera house so that it could become a beacon for culture and art.

“If the opera house is constructed after I die, I will come back to life,” he said, stressing that art and music were Lebanon’s weapons and that the Lebanese were excelling in literature, music, fine arts and other fields all around the world. Safi proposed the same idea back in the 1990s.

Press Federation head Mohammad Baalbaki shared Safi’s views for a future Lebanon and wished he had enough money to donate to the project.

He then argued that as a result of corruption many areas in Lebanon remained lacking in investments that could benefit the public, and a venue in the country that could house major artistic activities, mainly music.

Baalbaki explained that the opera house would not only be a place for music, but would also hold theaters for upcoming artists and play directors, a library, an audiovisual center, a research center with music recordings from around the world and a museum which would put on display rare manuscripts and paintings.

“It would be an excellent tourism project and would be a national pride,” he said.

Baalbaki gave the example of Egypt, which built its opera house at the beginning of the 20th century under the British mandate, and said the Lebanese government spent millions of dollars on developing its infrastructure but has not thought of building an opera house.

He also called on the government, especially on President Michel Sleiman, to make the project a reality and to serve Lebanon and invest in its talents.

Baalbaki then praised Safi’s achievements, which have become engraved in Lebanese culture, and reiterated his support for the poet, calling on dedicating a museum at the opera house for him.

“It’s a Lebanese dream. Let’s make it come true, hand in hand, with the great Wadih al-Safi because we all deserve it,” he said. – The Daily Star

^^ This is just a vision, not even referring to a proposed project.

Maybe but can fit into this project

Beirut Convention Center: A US$10 Million Sand Castle

By: Rajana Hamyeh

Published May 9, 2012

The idea of building the Beirut Convention Center started circulating in 1993. Two decades and US$10 million later, the idea resurfaces from scratch.

Funding for the Investment Development Authority in Lebanon (IDAL) has been increased in the proposed 2012 budget. This comes as a surprise amid spending cuts.

A closer look at the budget, however, reveals that increase in the investment funds is nothing but payment for debt incurred through IDAL, to the Lebanese Arab Contracting and Engineering Company (LACECO).

The Lebanese government is settling a court decision to pay for design drafts for a convention center plus the accumulated interest since 2005. But, what is it for? And how did it accumulate?

Hariri Vision

The story began on 17 November 1993 when the Lebanese cabinet headed by the late Rafik Hariri issued Decree #29. It decided to “privatize a parcel of property owned by the state in the Ain el-Mreisseh real estate zone to build a convention center and private accommodations for officially invited foreigners.” The cost of the project was estimated at US$350 million.

The Lebanese government is settling a court decision to pay for design drafts for a convention center plus the accumulated interest since 2005.
After the cabinet approved the convention center in 1993, late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was authorized to commission a public administration, institution, or private entity to prepare a comprehensive study for the project. The study would have included the preliminary plans and funding mechanisms. Then it would be presented to the government to take the appropriate actions.

Three months following his appointment, Hariri commissioned the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR). The CDR agreed on the condition that the tender should go to a financier with a good market reputation endorsed by an international bank, a high-class international hotel management company, and an international consulting bureau.

The cabinet prepared a call for tenders for a shortlist that would participate in a competition to plan, implement, fund, and operate the convention center and a five stars hotel “with no less than 500 and no more than 1,000 rooms.”

Commissioning IDAL

Two years later, the commission changed. On 16 August 1995, Decree #33 was amended so that the cabinet could commission IDAL, through Hariri, to create a joint stock company to construct and operate the center through a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) contract.

IDAL suggested a “small” amendment allowing the project to be classified as touristic through a cabinet decree. This would allow the creation of a mixed stock company where the state can provide financial and in kind contributions.

Based on this, the state acquired the privately owned properties 733, 799 and 800 that span 4,019 square meters. This was added to the area of property #705, reaching 52 thousand square meters. The first three properties were considered “contributions by the state to the company’s capital.”

The government agreed to IDAL’s offer and issued decree #11957 in 1998. It stated that the “culture and convention” center would have touristic value and thus licensed the creation of a mixed stock company and approved its statute. It also fixed its capital at US$450 million.

Everything was set up according to these foundations. But, at the end of the year, something unexpected happened. Emile Lahoud was elected president. Rafik Hariri left the premiership and was replaced by Salim al-Hoss.

Termination and Return

In mid-1999, Decree #1278 annulled Decree #11957, taking in its way the palace and the dream under the pretext of the cost of land in Ain el-Mreisseh that had reached US$4,000 per square meter.

When Hariri returned following the 2000 elections, the annulment was annulled and the project was revived on 21 June 2001.
But the termination did not last long. When Hariri returned following the 2000 elections, the annulment was annulled and the project was revived on 21 June 2001. Two studies backed the decision.

The first, prepared by IDAL, demonstrated the feasibility of the project and its impact on tourism in Lebanon. It also showed that property in Ain el-Mreisseh is the best option. This led to Decree #5815 calling for the acquisition of additional land in the area and that it be added to state-owned property #705.

The second study was conducted by the tourism ministry that considered the center to be one of the most important “components to attract tourists and delegations from Arab and foreign countries.”

This need was accelerated by the proposed hosting of the La Francophonie Summit (which includes France and its former and current colonies), that led to another project similar to the first, the Biel complex, originally supposed to be temporary (for one year) but remains until today.

The Second Annulment

The rebirth ended prematurely when Hariri left the government in 2004 and was replaced by Omar Karami. In February 2005, Decree #14158 revoked the acquisition of properties #733, 799, and 800, and removed the related markings. The project was terminated once more.

The non-existing project cost close to US$10 million (the preliminary amount of US$5.9 million from the first phase and the incurred interest from the beginning of the commission). On 9 April 2008, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora agreed to opening a credit line to pay dues to LACECO based on a letter sent by IDAL’s president Nabil Itani.

The debt issue was included in the cabinet’s meeting agenda “based on the instructions of the prime minister,” according to the general secretary of the ministerial council, Suheil Bouji.

Later on, the amount was reduced to US$8,543,683 following a settlement approved by the legislative and advisory committee in the justice ministry. This came as “a kind of a compromise to lower interests from 9 percent to 5 percent, taking into consideration the end of term and payment in a maximum of seven months,” Itani says.

Four years later, the end of term has yet to arrive and the debt is still growing at a 5 percent interest rate.

IDAL Commissions LACECO

IDAL decided that in the case the government terminates the project, it will nevertheless have to pay the costs incurred.
Setting aside the amount that will not stay the same anyway, something happened between the birth, termination, rebirth, and re-termination. After the first birth, the project went against the set plans. While IDAL’s commission was through an authority given to the prime minister, later set in a decree, further commissions were “personal.”

IDAL was required to call for tenders for the first phase and present its choice to the cabinet. “But it did not do so,” says an observer close to the issue. It went on to contract LACECO to draft the engineering plans for the project, identify funding, assist IDAL in analysing the bids, and supervise construction works until the project is delivered.

The project divided the company’s tasks into four phases at a total cost of US$19.2 million. Moreover, IDAL decided that in the case the government terminates the project, it will nevertheless have to pay the costs incurred.

The cost of the first phase, including the preliminary design, permit plans, project model, and preliminary plans, was set at 1.2 percent instead of the usual 1.7.

But what is more important than the project being launched without a call for tenders and through a direct commission from IDAL, is that the president of the chosen company, Salim Diab, was close to Hariri and a member of his political party.

Since the project was terminated through a government decision, during Omar Karami’s term, payment was due to the company for the plans that are “in our possession,” according to Itani. Since “there should be no work without pay” and based on the “legitimate” contract, “we had to pay,” says Itani.

Regardless of all that has happened with the project, current prime minister Najib Mikati is proposing the idea of re-launching the convention center.
Sources following the issue disagree. The say that “the final draft of the contract did not mention LACECO nor the issue of termination of work through a decision by the Lebanese government.”

“Do not ask me if the cost was high or not, there is a question of rights,” say Itani. He then goes on and explains that “it is not the company’s fault since it did its job. It is the fault of bad policies.” This is more than enough to identify who was perpetrator. The state considered “the convention center to be a priority above others.” This is the bottom line.

The Center Returns, Again

Regardless of all that has happened with the project, current prime minister Najib Mikati is proposing the idea of re-launching the convention center. And despite the cost already incurred, Mikati has yet to designate the new location or mention any other details of note.

This raises the question whether the plans that have been drawn up and are being paid for by the government can be used in a new location, or whether the whole process will start over.



http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/7139