- Montenegro set to join European Union
- Adriatic Coastline and historic sites make it an increasingly popular tourist destination
- Investment in tourist properties to accommodate growing tourist arrivals
Britain is on its way out of the European Union, but Montenegro appears to be on its way in. On April 15, 2018, pro-European Union candidate Milo Đukanović won Montenegro’s presidential election in a vote touted as a test of popular support for EU membership. The southeastern European nation has already begun to pave its entry into the European fold. Montenegro joined EU sanctions against Russia in 2014 and expelled a Russian diplomat after the poisoning of Russian émigré Sergei Skripal in the U.K. recently. Access to the Common Market will further boost an economy that is one of the fastest growing in Europe. With prospects so decidedly sunny, now may be an opportune time for investment. The experienced management team at American-Swiss Capital certainly thinks so. It has identified a number of distressed properties in Montenegro, which, with savvy management, hold the promise of high returns.
Montenegro’s economy has been clipping along at a nice pace. In 2017, GDP rose by 4.3 percent, ‘led by investment in highway construction and a record-setting tourism season’ (http://ibn.fm/NtlK4). As a tourist destination, it was a favorite with Russians, 318,000 of whom flocked to beaches along the Adriatic Sea (http://ibn.fm/9jxpK). Montenegro’s coastline with the Adriatic, the northernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, stretches for 295 km (183 miles), of which about 72 km (45 miles) consists of fine beaches. It’s not just the Russians who find the pleasing panoramas and littoral landscape of the Balkan nation delightful. In 2017, the total number of tourists who stayed in the country increased by 18.1 percent to 955,499, according to the national statistical office, a number, it must be noted, which exceeds the country’s population of about 625,000 (http://ibn.fm/nG3lq).
American-Swiss Capital plans to capitalize on those sterling statistics. The company’s genesis was inspired by a perceived commercial opportunity to act as a conduit between the U.S. equity markets and leading enterprises in Switzerland and Northern Europe. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, American-Swiss Capital seeks out superior quality, undervalued real estate properties, managing them to generate high rates of return. The company’s experienced management team possesses the knowledge and skills required to identify relatively risk-free, profitable investment opportunities, with a focus on distressed properties.
American-Swiss Capital has set its sights on an attractive property in the Boka Bay community of Tivat, home to Porto Montenegro and the heart of the coastline’s burgeoning tourism industry. The company is presently in negotiations to purchase the property, an 18-unit apartment beachfront development, for approximately $2.0 million. The property, which was constructed in 2012 but never occupied, has been valued at about $4.5 million. Apartment unit size ranges from 60-160 square meters. The property has a private beach with a fixed pontoon boat berth situated only one kilometer from the full-service marina of Porto Montenegro.
American-Swiss Capital is also contemplating a development project at Tivat. The company is considering the acquisition of about 36,000 SQM of land located on the picturesque, UNESCO-protected Bay of Kotor, about 6.2 kilometers from Porto Montenegro. The vision is to build a gated community with the construction of 30 villas, each measuring about 360 square meters (or about 3,875 square feet). American-Swiss estimates the total cost of the project would be approximately $9.3 million, which could be funded by presales and debt financing.
In 2017, EU GDP grew faster than expected, as the transition from economic recovery to expansion continued. With more of that economic energy on its way in 2018, real estate returns are set to rise. American-Swiss Capital may be placing its bets at the right time.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.AS-Capital.com
