A Sample Extract from the HEC Corporate Profile
EL-HAJJAR ENTERPRISES COMPANY (H.E.C.) s.a.l.
“When a bomb burned the original H.E.C. record cabinet down to the ground, we had nothing left to build on when we took over our fathers’ company but the H.EC. name. That name turned out to be more than enough,” say Karim and Samer El-Hajjar, the young owners of El-Hajjar Enterprises Company s.a.l., a privately owned, full-service ‘Grade A’ real estate development and construction company founded in Beirut in 1960 by brothers Simon and Samir El-Hajjar.
“As soon as our exploration of the name began,” say the H.E.C. owners, “we recovered something far more valuable than a set of documents, something neither war, fire, nor even time can destroy. It was the profound testimony – the living memory – of clients and associates that shared our fathers’ journey, an enterprise that spanned half a century of professionalism, honesty, and commitment”.
Like a Phoenix rising out of its ashes, H.E.C. has proven to be a model of resilience in the hands of its second generation of owners, resolved to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, on the same pathway they had paved, aiming to travel further still, invest wider, and build higher.
A Half-Century of Expertise
H.E.C. is one of the prime real estate development companies in Lebanon. Ever since its founding in 1960, it has been creating the apartments people call home. With a half-century of experience, H.E.C. has the professional expertise to manage projects from A-Z: from land purchase, appointment of architects/contractors, and project execution/monitoring, to follow-up and final handover.
For half a century, careful and responsible planning has guided its practice. Having evolved from its modest beginnings into a diversified real estate provider, conducting overseas international operations in land acquisition and real estate, H.E.C. is truly an ongoing success story. H.E.C. offers customers the confidence of relying on expert developers coupled with the convenience of personalized service. Privately owned and privately run, H.E.C. has outside offices for architectural work and a large number of individual brokers to secure sales.
H.E.C’s 46 years experience in the real estate domain has aided in shaping the ideal blend of professional teams, loyal in channelling their expertise to the common goal of the organization. With well-managed success, the right knowledge, tools and ideology, H.E.C is leaning towards a secure and prosperous future.
A Legacy of Honesty
Surviving and succeeding in the real estate development and reconstruction sector is about more than the construction of edifices or complexes. It’s about the building and maintenance of a reputation for excellence. The reputation H.E.C. has earned over the years is one of transparency, entrepreneurial intelligence, and committed service. With a history marked by credibility and continuity, H.E.C. has a legacy to be proud of.
H.E.C. is known for its responsive and honest communication with its clients and employees and for its customer care know-how. Direct owner-to-customer service is not the exception but the rule, in the interest of offering clients a service customized to their needs.
The company has succeeded in preserving a distinct and distinguished identity by adhering to a work ethic based on its project selection criteria, in accordance with its priorities, values, and operational standards.
Taking into consideration the potential impact of regional instability, H.E.C. prefers making safe investments and smaller profits than risking its reputation in pursuit of large profit. “We are patriot owners interested in attracting investors to Lebanon.
Lebanon has potential, not only for a company to grow and be noticed but also to make a difference. Furthermore, as auto-investors, our financial commitment to a project is there by default, thus eliminating the risk of money return,” say the owners.
A Signature of Quality
Quality is the H.E.C. signature, the common denominator among all its projects. H.E.C. is known for providing the best layout, ensuring an open view (whether sea or mountain view), enhancing the surrounding location, and offering a wide range of architectural styles from rustic to modern.
With half a century of experience in real estate development, H.E.C made it possible to acquire the best teams in their respective fields, delivering the overall product and service with excellence. Our very foundation was built on a family business, which flourished in every aspect of construction. Our values are simple: Build it right for our customers and build the company through our customers. We know that the best advertising is through the satisfaction of our clients.
The principles we hold above all are Professionalism, Commitment, Customer Service and Teamwork. These are the principles that form the basis for the way we do business everyday. Following a long history in commercial and residential construction, land acquisition and development, H.E.C remains focused on its customers every step of the way. It is our job to provide them with insight on their requests and solutions for their demands. We know the power of professionalism and of building expertise, while maintaining the feel and comfort of a family-owned business.
At H.E.C. we build the highest quality projects with the highest quality services, and we give our customers a competitive advantage in turnkey solutions. It is our job to build your vision into tomorrow’s reality.
A Portfolio of Personalized Projects
H.E.C. is one of Lebanon’s leading providers of quality real estate projects. It has a substantial portfolio that spans different regions of Lebanon (Achrafieh, Ain Saade, Ramla Al-Baida, Rawche, Hamra, Karakol Al-Druz, Brummana, Antelias) as well as the Arab Gulf (UAE, Saudi Arabia), Canada, and the US. H.E.C. projects include hotel, retail, residential, and mixed use space providing a complete range of modern amenities, built to international standards to cater to the needs of a global audience. H.E.C. projects are designed to enhance every neighbourhood that hosts them, becoming landmarks in their own right and an integral part of the communities in which they are built.
Prominent H.E.C. projects include the company’s headquarters El-Hajjar Centre 65 in Sioufi (Achrafieh); large-size apartment buildings such as Bella Vista I and II; small-size apartment buildings such as Rock Hill and Rockland; and the recent nine-story HEC 730 apartment building in Achrafieh.
Rather than just delivering properties, H.E.C. delivers customized space integrating the latest concepts in state-of-the-art living. We provide the best apartments depending on client lifestyle and budget and offer housing starting from US$30,000 up to no limit, from one-bedroom suites to deluxe homes. If a client is interested in a specific area, we can personalize the project.
Where construction is concerned, HEC offers the finest quality for the most affordable prices. We opt only for construction projects that are ‘Grade A’, from plumbing to architectural work to tiles, wooden doors, and aluminum. Budget is not an issue; it’s the quality and professionalism that seal the deal. Projects larger or smaller than the size of our operations are generally referred to local firms in hope of preserving investment in Lebanon.
“We feel privileged and highly accountable,” say the owners, “to uphold the tradition of a family-owned business. By far the most rewarding aspect of working for H.E.C. is watching the faces of clients, whether a group of investors or a single individual, light up on first walking into the properties they ordered. We deliver exactly what we promise: a high-end product for a low budget”.
A Local Company of Global Vision
Throughout its growth, H.E.C. has developed with Lebanon, growing with its market, meeting and anticipating the present and future needs of its dynamic construction environment. H.E.C. maintained its professionalism during the war, venturing to build what shelling might damage. Having functioned in a war-torn country, we always fortify the projects we build with precautionary specifications to combat the potential risk posed by human or natural disasters.
As a Beirut-based company, H.E.C.’s primary mission is to continue to provide and upgrade its service for a growing market in Lebanon. Further, H.E.C.’s international investment capabilities, resources, and contacts have enabled it to cross continents with well-studied ventures and to project itself as a company with a global vision.
The decision to tap new markets and cater to overseas clients soon led the company far beyond Lebanon’s borders. Proceeding from a solid status as one of Lebanon’s most well-known and trusted real estate establishments, H.E.C. is in the process of exploring new horizons in the North American continent.
Apart from its permanent in-house team of office personnel, HEC expands its affiliate network on a project basis as need arises; we liaison with construction specialists, brokers, and legal consultants to cover all functions and capabilities applicable to real estate investment, including its acquisition, financing, development, construction, ownership, management, leasing and operations.
“We were taught,” say the H.E.C. owners, “to motivate our vision into the future. Our vision – like our history – is long-term. We invest our talent, energy and resources in the highest quality planning, design, and construction that will last for generations.”
H.E.C. today is an old company with a young perspective. Managed by its two young owners, it is guaranteed to benefit from the injection of new ideas into a well-rooted and winning structure.
To the question, “What’s in a name?” the answer, in H.E.C.’s case, is: “Everything”.
Historical Overview
The HEC founders’ first completed structure was a twenty-four apartment building on Sassine Street in Achrafieh. This success was followed with the construction of a building in Achrafieh (1964) facing the Azarieh Convent, another in Dora and a third in Lebanon Street. The company further expanded by creating the tourist buildings of The Atlantic Hotel (1968) and Melcart Hotel (1971).
H.E.C was also one of the first to invest in Ramla Al-Baida, a left-out region at the time. Although at the beginning the project was perceived as a risk , the establishment of H.E.C’s first hotel in that region proved to be a tremendous innovative success and contributed to what has become one of the capital’s most luxurious and expansive neighbourhoods.
Having become a leader in its field, H.E.C. proceeded to take more projects, and therefore accumulate its successes, constructing 65 buildings and hotels in 45 years. Early 1970’s projects include the luxurious eleven-story building at Raouche-Karakas (1973), the well known “Aramis” in Hamra (1974), and the thirty-two apartment structure in Karakol Al-Druz (1975).
The unfortunate Lebanese civil war events pushed H.E.C. to expand its business to the neighbouring Gulf countries. Several industrial manufacturing businesses, such as Alumar aluminum factory (1976), Gulf building material company (1977) and Skyline elevators (1978) were launched as a means of remaining faithful to the same quality standards advocated back at the home country.
Playing its innovative role again, H.E.C completed the first shopping center to use electrical stairs in Dubai. The tourist resort in Om-Afyoun, a building complex in Saudi-Arabia, the Khazzan Street in Riyadh (1979), schools in Bisha and Hefa (1980), and the construction in Abha city are only some of H.E.C.’s prominent achievements in the Arab Gulf region.
With time, H.E.C crossed into America, where it invested in a considerable number of real estate projects among which are gas stations, commercial and residential building and land acquisition in Ottawa (1982) and the “Aphrodite: Salon and SPA” in California (2002).
A turning point for the company in the 2003 was the passing down of the H.E.C establishment from the two founder brothers, onto their sons Karim and Samer El-Hajjar.
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