Costa del Sol's Housing Market sees much positive Change in 2017
Both prestigious developments should give house prices in the area a boost.
Alcazaba Hills Project
Residents of Casares will probably be relieved that the previously abandoned Alcazaba Hills project is now finally under way. Spearheaded by Chilean businessmen Óscar LerÍa and Patricio Rojas, the Osim group will add a further 340 homes to the 92 properties already constructed on the site. Osim is investing 200-million to get the project back on track.
The 1.5-hectare lagoon will be turned into a water sports paradise, offering visitors and local residents facilities such as canoeing, sailing and paddle surfing. The centrepiece of the whole complex will be an artificial lake, the first of its kind in Europe, that will boast white sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters which are constantly topped up and cleaned.
The Alcazaba Lagoon leisure and residential complex is the first of several investments the group plans for the area. In total, an investment of 480 million euros is to be made, which will be split among several sites along the Costa del Sol, benefiting other locations such as Malaga and Marbella, Estepona and Torremolinos.
According to expat newspaper SUR in English, properties at Alcazaba Lagoon development are likely to cost between 250,000 euros and 500,000 euros.
Rotating Homes?
Looking a little like giant mushrooms on stalks, the latest development at the Costa del Sol presents house-hunters keen to keep their environmental footprints to a minimum with a viable alternative. Running entirely on solar energy, the first four of these ultra-modern homes are already under construction at the Bel Air urbanization.
Property developer SH Revolving House claimed via their designers that these homes would save owners around 70% in energy costs, reducing homeowners' overall carbon footprint by 68% thanks to innovative use of solar energy. Each of the initial four homes will comfortably accommodate a family of five. A revolving home will cost around 690,000 euros.
Speaking to The Olive Press explained that "There are lots of beautiful houses in Spain but very few actually cater for sustainability in the long term. If you can give a building mobility you can enjoy so much more because it is constantly changing."
He added that it was very difficult to build such homes "with all this pressure", referring to the current laws in Spain that give developers very little incentive to build "green" housing.
Completion of the first house should be in April next year. Owners will be able to control the day-to-day functioning of their rotating dwelling from an App on their phone. This will control heating, electricity usage and lighting in the home, but will also determine the rotation disc itself on which the house sits. It is similar to that of a wind turbine, but could almost be likened to a sunflower - owners will be able to choose how to rotate the house to a particular position, if they wish to have more or less sun light in a specific room.
Thanks to a certain amount of artificial intelligence in the technology driving the rotating home, these sun houses also learn and react to their environment. They begin to work with the available amount of solar energy in a particular area.
Developer Coue believes Spain is just the beginning. "I see our markets more in the north of Europe. I think the French and German markets are receptive and in the UK," he explained.
For the Costa del Sol and Estepona houses with such "green" credentials are certainly a step in the right direction.
