MANAMA: Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) has announced that its development project in Morocco, the Royal Ranches Marrakech (RRM), is undergoing critical modifications to adapt to the changing market conditions in Marrakech.

The project will now shift from luxury large scale villas to small- to medium-size apartments.

The modifications to the RRM project will involve the re-master planning of the first district which will include an authentic Medina club houses, a medical and health spa, a traditional suq shopping area and a boutique hotel.

This decision follows a recent visit by a delegation representing GFH’s executives led by acting chief executive Hisham Alrayes to the project earlier last month.

During the visit, the delegation concluded the restructuring of the projects financed with BMCE Bank, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in April and assessing progress on the development.

“We understand that market needs can change overtime, and as such we make it our business to monitor these potential and actual changes as a matter of course,” said Mr Alrayes.

“In order to better cater to local demand due to the market changes and the existing oversupply of luxury villas, we have taken the decision to alter the plan to include affordable residential units and medical health facilities, rather than the ranches and large scale villas as initially planned for,” he said.

The existing infrastructure development of RRM is 45 per cent complete.

Following the financial crisis, there was ample influx of luxury villas in Marrakech, which has led to the modification of the original master plan in light of the prevailing market requirements.

RRM is now working on a revised time schedule for the completion of the first phase of the development, while focusing at the same time on attracting joint developers to undertake parts of the project.