Natasha Tohme
Special to The Daily Star

The plot of land in Rmeileh, which, until recently, housed the popular Oceana Beach club is being developed into an eco-friendly vacation resort complete with bungalows nestled amongst lush greenery.
“We want to keep it as rural as possible,” said Walid Maalouf, the managing partner of Synergy and one of the investors in the project.
The other investors are his partner in Synergy, Ralph Nader, and the company that owns the land, Societe des Terrains et de Developpement Urbain (STDU), whose shareholders include Nazih Zeidan and cigar tycoon Mohamad Zeidan.
Synergy ­ a consulting and management company that specializes in the hospitality industry ­ was approached by the Zeidans to join the venture, and last November the two parties signed a partnership agreement deal. “It is a 50-50 profit-sharing agreement,” Maalouf said, with STDU providing the financing and Synergy developing the concept for the yet-to-be named resort and thereafter handling implementation and management.
The new resort, said Maalouf, will be much larger in scale than Oceana, which utilized just 25,000 square meters of land. It will encompass all the land that STDU owns: 65,000 square meters with 600 meters of seafront. “We will be developing the total area,” said Maalouf, who added that “we are doing the design for the entire project, because it would be foolish to do it in piecemeal fashion. However, it will be implemented in phases.”
The first phase will involve renovating and upgrading the existing facilities of the beach club, in addition to commencing work on the adjacent plot of land that will eventually contain about 100 bungalows varying in size from 45 to 75 square meters. “They will be independent structures, each with a private garden,” said Maalouf.
This part of the project will have a separate entrance ­ an old house on the land that is being renovated into a lobby and reception area ­ and will offer guests services such as room service, housekeeping and a spa. The main feature, however, will be greenery. The plan is “to preserve as much as the environment as possible,” said Maalouf, adding, “no cars will be allowed in the area. There will be golf carts to take them to their bungalow. This project is completely eco-friendly.”
However, just 15 to 20 bungalows will be built in the first phase, which is expected to be completed in time for summer. “We want to start with a few bungalows to test the market,” explained Maalouf, adding that the rental rates haven’t been established as yet. “The first two years will be important in assessing the demand. It will either encourage us to complete the remaining 80 bungalows, or give us cold feet.”
Of course, he is hoping that the demand will grow, because the bungalows are what will make the project a beach resort in the truest sense of the term ­ as opposed to a beach club where people could spend the day. For this reason, the estimated cost of the entire project hasn’t been determined. The first phase, however, is expected to cost about $1.5 million. The resort ­ which is mainly targeted at Lebanese expatriates and locals ­ was designed by architect Charles Hadife and landscape artist Frederique Francis.