"The cooperation agreement has been signed with the goal of constructing residential and commercial units on more than 105,000 square meters of land belonging to Maskan Investment Group in the form of participation in construction [projects]," reported HIBNA, the official news website of Bank Maskan–the state-run agent bank of Iran's housing sector.
According to the report, the investment group, which is the parent company of Bank Maskan, has agreed to undertake construction operations on lands located in distressed urban areas, mostly toward the southern parts of Tehran. It says many of them are extremely old and even rundown properties, and therefore in immediate need of "demolition and reconstruction".
Based on the agreement, the investment group is also tasked with providing advisory services to handle the technical issues of construction and engineering paperwork to receive permits and commence construction, Financial Tribune reported.
"Conducting field inspections and feasibility studies to obtain the technical characteristics of projects based on neighborhoods, and considerations related to marketing and sales are among other commitments of Maskan Investment Group as part of the agreement," the report said.
The agreement is part of a bigger plan initiated by the administration of President Hassan Rouhani to reinvigorate distressed urban areas in Tehran and across Iran.
Maskan Investment Group, as a major force in Iran's housing sector, has so far defined various projects in line with the larger Urban Renewal Plan. For instance, it currently has projects underway in Tabriz, Ardabil and Mashhad.
It is eying various other projects in Tehran, Zanjan, Isfahan and Shiraz, announcing that it has built about 1,400 residential and commercial units in distressed urban areas of Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan and Hamedan during the previous fiscal year that ended on March 20, 2018.
Nematollah Torki, the head of Tehran Management and Planning Organization, announced in early July that about 25% of Tehran comprise distressed urban areas with a population of 2.5 million people.
In late September, top officials of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and Tehran Municipality convened and approved measures for the expansion of a revitalization program to areas surrounding the capital.
The extremely bad housing conditions on the outskirts of Tehran have prompted the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to focus a lot of attention on resolving their issues that would, in turn, improve conditions inside Tehran.
Budget deficit has been the main reason hampering work so far.