When footballers bought a bubble

They grace our television sets nearly every weekend. They make our hearts beat faster or slowly, depending on which side one is on and they earn mega bucks every week just to kick about a leather-woven synthetic rubber. But did you know that the curse of bad investment decisions affects them, too?

English footballers Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and former player Garry Neville were among 25 football stars, who, with hundreds of Britons, bought into a holiday villa project in Morocco that is yet to completed seven years on.

Le Jardin de Fleur Beach and Golf Resort in Saidia, a beach front high-end project, started in the mid-2000s and the names of Terry, Ferdinand and Neville were used to market it.

At the time, Ferdinand, who has since left Manchester United for Queens Park Rangers, was quoted saying: “I love everything about Morocco, the people, the food, the beaches. Our villas are not just investments — we will use them for holidays.”

In the promotional brochure, he said: “I plan to have a holiday once or twice a year here with the family. When I saw the plans, I liked the fact that there were plenty of quality shops, restaurants and cafes nearby. I was also impressed it is a gated community with good security.”

The footballers who marketed the project were sold houses at a cheaper rate, with Ferdinand purchasing three additional townhouses for friends and family at a cost of £2 million (Sh294.2 million).

Apart from the knock-down deal, the players were promised exclusive access to a fleet of 46 sailing yachts, five-star facilities within Saidia, which was dubbed ‘Africa’s St Tropez’, and a beach club.

The project received backing from the king of Morocco, H M Mohammed VI, in his ambitious Plan Azur 2010 tourism and infrastructural programmes, designed to quadruple the number of tourists to Morocco by building more high-end housing projects and hotels.

Le Jardin de Fleur Beach and Golf Resort was billed as a luxury resort featuring 1,342 properties, three golf courses, a sports complex, spas together with cafés and restaurants and nine luxury hotels. The designs won numerous international awards.

Beginning

It all started in 2006 when the developers, Property Logic, collected about £40 million (Sh5.8 billion) in deposits from investors who each paid at least £20,000 (Sh2.94 million) on properties worth up to £1 million (Sh147.1 million).

Almost 480 buyers put their money in the project which by 2007 was way on schedule with basic work completed. The recession made the project stall in 2009 after the funding parties went bankrupt. The developer has since struggled to find a financier.

Speaking in 2013 to The Mail, Trevor Cockrell, then 55, poured his frustrations out.

“A lot of investors are going to be disappointed. At first, everything was fine – we were given flashy promotional materials about footballers investing and we thought if they were part of it, it must be a good idea,” said the semi-retired textile importer from Bolton, who had paid deposit on a two-bedroom apartment.

Trevor explained that for footballers, who earn millions, the impact of the project stalling would be less felt as compared to other investors.

“But now we’ve accepted it will not get off the ground. It’s all right for the footballers because it is just a drop in the ocean for them, but this is going to hit many others hard. Nothing has happened at the site for years,” he said.

Sean Cusack, a director at Property Logic, admitted the disappointments.

“We appreciate the development should have been ready years ago but no one was able to predict the financial crisis. Some investors have become tetchy and at the moment we haven’t been able to find financiers,” he said, while trying to exonerate the footballers from any blame.

“The footballers have been patient. They know we’re not responsible for the recession.” By early 2013, about 50 buyers had sued the developers who still insist they will finish the development.

As of October 2013, the resort was about 45 per cent complete under the control of CDG, a Moroccan property company, which intends to finish off the resort, including the nine luxury hotels originally planned. The grand ideas of the mid-2000s have fallen flat, to the point where the three hotels operating have to close down in winter when customers are only civil servants from Melilla, a nearby town.

Property Logic are keeping their clients informed from time to time on the progress of the project, which was expected to capitalise on Morocco’s proximity to Europe.

Appeal

Just three hours by air from the UK and in the same time zone, the country is deemed ideal for its average annual temperature of 21°C and an unusual blend of endless sandy beaches, the snow-capped Atlas mountains and the vast expanses of the Sahara.

The unique culture is another reason Morocco appeals to buyers. Leaonne Hall, author of a new guide, Buying a Property in Morocco, published by How To Books, writes: “Increasingly, people are looking for cultural holiday homes and a taste of the exotic, which Morocco has in abundance. It is a colourful, welcoming place that really excites the senses.”

As for the footballers, most have changed teams or even retired (like Neville), amassed more wealth and most likely pushed the matter out of their minds. The other investors who were lured by the marketing skills of Property Logic are currently torn between seeking legal redress or waiting for their dream to become a reality.