CAIRO: While the Cairo Financial Center (CFC) will likely include a tennis court or two, there is much more to the massive modern facility that is estimated to cost between $450 and $730 million. Hervey Lavoie, a specialist in fitness and wellness architecture and president of the Denver-based company responsible for designing the CFC - Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative (OLC) - began his career by designing tennis and racquetball clubs. "My partner and I were tennis players and we designed a couple of tennis clubs in the late 70s. We saw an opportunity to specialize in the area and as the industry evolved over the 80s and the demand for fitness and wellness equipment developed, we designed the buildings to accommodate the demand. It was through these endeavors that OLC would learn the skills allowing it to move on to much larger, and more lucrative, projects like the CFC. "In the process of doing fitness centers we developed design skills for mixed-use development. The fitness centers were often put into hotels, office buildings, and retail centers, says Lavoie. In 1999, OLC established an office in Cairo to assist in the design of projects to be implemented in the United States. "In the late 90s, we were having a hard time finding staff in the states because it was boom time and it was difficult to find trained people, says Lavoie. "Egypt was very appealing to us not only because of the availability of trained personnel but because of the time difference. The Cairo operation basically became a night shift for us in the United States. "We were able to create some really productive competitive advantages over our competition in the states by being able to turn around presentations and documentation deadlines in amazing time, says Lavoie. The company eventually turned its attention to projects in Egypt and won the contract to design the CFC. With this experience Lavoie hopes that OLC can work on further projects in what he views as a burgeoning Egyptian market. "I think with the CFC project under our wing and a satisfied client, we can parlay our experience into additional opportunities for large mixed-use projects, he said. At its current estimated investment costs - between $450 and $730 million (subject to construction costs) - Egypt's Cairo Financial Center (CFC) will feature a five-star hotel, retail and office space, business and leisure facilities, a large plaza, shopping arcades, restaurants, and an amphitheater - all overlooking Cairo's historic Citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque. "I feel that there is a lot of unmet potential here because the barriers to development had been substantial in the past, but now some of those barriers are coming down as investment money becomes available. "This is a historic opportunity for Egypt to experience some smart growth and we would love to be a part of it, he added. "As things get busier here, we expect to have as much trouble finding trained staff in Egypt as we did 10 years ago in the United States.
