Faisal Hills and Faisal Residencia: a development update

Zedem International is managing a number of ongoing projects in Islamabad and its adjoining areas. But for the most part, the developments in none of these schemes warrant a lot of investor speculation. At least not as intensely as they do for the progress made in Faisal Residencia and Faisal Hills.

The previous year, however, was rather slow for both of these ‘twin’ housing societies – in real estate terms.

Information on the balloting date, day-to-day scheme developments, and society maps was eagerly awaited, but these details were never announced publicly. When considered in retrospect, some promises were met by the developer, while others weren’t.

How does the situation currently stand in both of these projects? And what can we expect of their future?

Read on below to find out.

Faisal Hills

The pace of development in Faisal Hills is much more encouraging than what has been observed (so far) in Faisal Residencia.

The good news is that the GT Road entrance of Faisal Hills is nearing completion. According to Suleman Paracha of Savul Estate, the project’s main entry/exit route will be operational by the end of March 2019. An inauguration ceremony will be held to mark the occasion.

As per Malik Asif Shahzad of Noor Eman Associates, development work in Faisal Hills was initiated in the last quarter of 2018. At the time, construction work was primarily carried out in Block A, leading to the main boulevard’s early completion.

Malik explained that at the moment, development work has been put on a temporary halt. He pointed towards Faisal Margalla City as the primary cause for this delay.

The said housing society is another on-going project by Zedem International, and most of the development machinery has been moved there for the time being. However, all the experts interviewed were confident that construction activities would shortly resume in Faisal Hills.

Some portion of land is also currently sought for the society’s entrance: another contributor to the delay period mentioned.

On the market activity/interest front, the project, according to realtors, is performing slowly. The prices, however, have risen steadily.

The asking premium for a 5-marla plot (in a good block/street location) is pretty fair; ranging between PKR 150,000 and PKR 300,000. These are the going rates in Block A. For the other plot categories located in other blocks, the asking premium is either low or zero.

According to Paracha, any investment made here should be fixed for at least a medium-term period (with 1-2 years’ holding time). In this timeframe, significant developments can be expected – even the full completion of the project itself.

Faisal Residencia

In our previous update on Faisal Residencia, we informed you how construction activities had finally commenced in the project. From that time onward, however, the pace of development has been slow – and this is how the society’s affairs stand at present.

Malik Shahzad (of Noor Eman Associates) feels that the biggest hurdle for the project is its entrance, which is not well-located.

Currently, plot prices are stable, and not much market activity has taken place in the last few weeks and months. The situation of Faisal Residencia, in this sense, is not much different from what the country’s real estate market is generally facing.

A change in these circumstances, however, can be expected once further development work starts to take place. Or the market is bolstered by some unexpected bout of good news. Realtors, based on their understandings of market conditions, recommended holding investments in the society for the time being – at least until some ‘shift in the weather’ becomes apparent.

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Have you invested in either one (or both) of these projects? Do you have any questions or concerns regarding your decision? You can discuss them with us in the comments section below. Alternatively, you can head to the Zameen Forum for a detailed conversation on the topic.