Build it and they will come
A mall and entertainment center in the heart of the Bekaa Valley
Driving past the rows of vineyards and the occasional industrial factory in the fields of Taanayel, West Bekaa, one of the last things you would expect to see is 200,000 square meters of entertainment and mall structures.
But that’s precisely the location Maurice Torbay, chairman of Cascada Village and a veteran of mall development in South America, has chosen for his company’s first mixed use project in Lebanon, Cascada Village.
INTRODUCING CASCADA VILLAGE
The project, according to Mariam Akkou, a specialist in public relations, communication and business development at Cascada Village, is designed to be a one stop destination for all residents in the region. Therefore, in addition to a 150,000 square meter mall — which is the project’s anchor — leisure facilities such as an outdoor extreme sports park, an events venue, an amphitheater for musical events, and a dining and promenade area centered around a little lake, are also components of the village. The project will also have a spa, a medical center and a medium sized hotel (200 rooms) in the future.
Today, the weddings and events venue Arcadia is already in operation and will be hosting some 20 weddings from May to September of this year. The rest of the project, save for the hotel, has been fully built, and the mall itself is in what Akkou describes as the “final stages of fine tuning and collaboration with the big tenants.” The mall, along with the entertainment facilities, is set to open by early 2016 at the latest, says Torbay.
Cascada Village has been in the works since the end of 2010, but Torbay admits that they had slowed down their pace with the onset of the war in Syria in order to better assess the risks. Yet he insists there’s been no deviation from the size or scope of the planned project, nor does he see the situation in Syria drastically affecting the West Bekaa area where the project is located.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROJECT
Though a project of this magnitude in the Bekaa may seem risky at first glance, Torbay is no stranger to the development of malls in similar conditions. He has made a successful career out mall development projects in South America, where he not only lived, but was also named an honorary consul of Ecuador to Venezuela.
Fifty one years ago, he founded Pinova, a company which specializes in the manufacturing of industrial fridges, before diversifying his business to real estate development and specifically to the development of malls on the outskirts of major city hubs.
With seven such malls throughout South America under his belt — two other ‘Cascadas’ are in Venezuela — Torbay started thinking of creating a regional mall project in Lebanon, his home country. Torbay says his love for Lebanon and comfort in investing inside the country is what motivated his decision.
TORBAY INSISTS THAT THERE WAS NO DEVIATION FROM THE SIZE OR SCOPE OF THE PLANNED PROJECT WITH THE WAR
IN SYRIA
He then partnered with Roger Abboud — also of Lebanese origin and president of Abboud Trading Corporation, a wholesaler of mainly home electronic goods to Latin America based in Medley, Florida — to create Inter Mall Group. Together, Torbay and Abboud used Inter Mall Group to bring Cascada Village to Lebanon.