Property in Cyprus

Archive for the ‘Corporate’ Category

Gordon Miller, a freelance property and environmental journalist, was a bit surprised to learn when he came to visit Minthis Hills that he would be worked hard.  He wasn’t fazed though and helped the team plant a 50-60 year old olive tree in the garden of the soon to be completed showhouse.

Stelios Patsalides, general manager of Minthis Hills Golf Club, Monika Noppa, landscape architect for Minthis Hills, and Andreas Antoniou, tree surgeon at Minthis Hills, were on hand to help.  According to Andreas, “We have already planted a few olive trees that are around 5-600 years old and there is at least one that we believe may be around 2000 years old!”

Andreas is a qualified tree surgeon, having studied at the Democritus University of Thrace in Greece, and joined Minthis Hills to practice what he learnt.  According to him, he is gaining so much knowledge now working day to day on the tree planting programme at Minthis Hills, “It’s so much better than learning it in a book.”

Minthis Hills would like to extend a big thank you to Gordon and hope to see him here again.

Minthis Hills (www.minthishills.org) gave golf property a boost at the weekend as one of its sponsored players collected the trophy for runner up in the doubles final of a competitive tennis open.  In the mens singles final, Petros Baghdatis (Marcos’ brother) triumphed in a two set thriller.

At Minthis Hills and Pafilia Property Developers, we believe in supporting our employees in their outside activities as much as possible.  By helping them achieve their goals, we see our employees translate that same passion in their work.

We’d like to congratulate Sacha and hope to see her winning many more trophies!

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has already demonstrated that it has potential for Pafilia and its Cyprus properties, especially Minthis Hills, whose barefoot luxury villas and bungalows are very appealing to Saudi Arabians and expats. As result, we have opened up our first office in the Middle East, in Jeddah, KSA in the Al Andalous area of the city.

The company has a strategy of establishing local offices in key geographies with a view to providing local support and knowledge in local languages. Part of our Global network, this now joins our London, Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Dublin and Chania offices. To head up our activities in KSA, Kyriazi Anghelopoulos has been appointed as Saudi Arabia area manager, who has a great deal of valuable experience in this region. I look forward to working very closely with him so that together we can realise our vision for the area.

We marked the occasion with an inauguration ceremony where our partner in KSA, Sheikh Mohammed Bakhashwain, and I signed the contracts for the office. This was followed by our first invitation only Pafilia seminar held at the Hilton, which was highly successful.

Cyprus is new to Saudi Arabians, but there are very strong reasons why we believe that we can provide expatriates and Saudi Arabians alike with what they desire; attractive holiday homes or investment property in an EU country which has a warm and pleasant climate, mountains, sea and so much more while being just a short flight away. Cyprus and Saudi Arabia each have a rich cultural heritage going back to ancient times, while having all the advantages of a modern cosmopolitan society.

Another aspect in the attraction of Pafilia’s Cyprus properties is that the Government has announced that non-EU citizens investing a minimum of €300,000 in property in Cyprus are highly likely to be granted an immigration permit, which is equivalent to a permanent residence permit. There will no longer be a need for visas or renewal of residency permits for non-EU citizens and owners will gain almost the same rights as Cypriot citizens.

In addition, Cyprus is the perfect place to enjoy life to its full. As well as its climate, Cyprus has a very relaxed lifestyle that removes the stress of everyday life. The low crime rate and family oriented culture create a safe and secure environment where your children can play outside without worrying. This is supplemented by an excellent education system, first class healthcare and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Cyprus is also an International business centre, where there are Inward Investment initiatives and where you can set up a company easily. It has low or zero taxation and bilateral tax treaties with a vast variety of countries, providing a gateway into the EU.

As developers of Minthis Hills’, Pafilia, is not focused on just Cyprus property.  We have a broader interest than that and have just announced the donation of plants, trees and materials totalling around €10,000 to create a Municipal green area for the people of Latchi.  This picturesque seaside town, famed for its fresh fish, is less than 20 minutes drive from Minthis Hills.

This announcement is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility programme that we are developing and follows our donation of 200 parking spaces in Limassol and the pledge we made at Minthis Hills to the UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign.  

Occupying around 900m2, the Muncipal park is designed to attract families, both locals and visitors and has a large lawn, trees to create shade and river bed gravel around the plants.  It is an attractive garden that will mature well with time.  The plants used are all drought tolerant Mediterranean ones that require minimal water and are not prone to damage by sea breezes.  We have also installed an automated irrigation system to ensure optimal use of water.

We worked very closely with the Municipality of Polis Chrysochous to complete this park, with us designing it, providing the materials and overseeing it, ehile the Municipality carried out the work.  According to the Mayor of Polis Chrysochous, Angelos Odysseos, Pafilia has contributed significantly to the Polis Chrysochous area over the years.  This has not only been by building properties, also by helping with the Municipality’s many cultural and artistic activities.  The Polis Chrysochous area encompasses the popular town of Polis and Latchi and is in a naturally beautiful area of Cyprus, once the ancient kingdom of Marion.  There are several art galleries and a number of artists and sculptors in the surrounding areas, opening their studios regularly as part of the National open art studios tour.  It is on the edge of the Akamas National Park, a whole untouched peninsular with rare species of plants and animals.  .

It was Pafilia Services, the sister company to Pafilia Property Developers, who led the project.  Their in-house landscaping team has a great deal of expertise in this area and had in mind to create a small attractive park.  We believe it has been successful and we wish the people of Latchi enjoy this park for many years!

Cyprus properties are now competing against the best in the world, with Minthis Hills winning 5 stars in two very competitive categories in the Europe & Africa Property Awards 2009 – “Best Golf Development” and “Best Architecture (Multiple Units)” for both the resort and its golf course properties.  Minthis Hills has now been nominated for the International Property Awards as well to compete for the accolade of World’s Best in each category.

 

Obviously we are very pleased about this news and, to quote Demetris Ashiotis, one of our executive directors, “Minthis Hills is special to us, we live and breathe it.  It is an opportunity to take everything we do to new levels.  It will be the address not just in Cyprus, but the Mediterranean.  We are very proud to have this recognised and it demonstrates our ability to compete at the highest eschelons.”

 

Designed by Woods Bagot of Emirates Towers fame, our private residences combine traditional and modern features to create a look and feel that possesses universal appeal.  Both the properties and the resort as a whole have been designed to be the epitomy of barefoot luxury.  They bring you close to nature, the views and the wide open spaces and at the same time offer real pampered luxury with 5 star services.  By blurring the boundaries between inside and outside, the architecture is in touch with nature, while the whole design and the finishes exude luxury.  Traditional Cypriot mountain village elements, such local stone and wood and interior courtyards, are a fundamental part of the design, while facilitating energy efficiency by encouraging cross-ventilation to provide natural cooling during Summer.

 

Part of the renowned International Property Awards, the European Property Awards have been running for 15 years.  The judging panel included Eric Pickles MP, chairman of the Conservative Party, Ben Wood, industry head property markets of Google UK; Peter Bolton King, group chief executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals; Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the National House Building Council; Christopher Hall, president elect of FIABCI; Wilhelm Harnish, Master Builders of Australia (MBA); Thijis Stoffer, International Consortium of Real Estate Agents Association (ICREA); Helen Shield, editor-in-chief of International Homes Luxury Collection magazine and Gillian Farr, head of design of Laura Ashley Home.