A 130-Million Birr Palace for Ethiopian President

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The family of President Mulatu Teshome (PhD) will soon move to a new residence on Entoto Avenue, neighboring the US Embassy, after the presidential office in the photo is completed in March 2017. Designed by Ultimate Architects and built by Zamra Construction, the complex is estimated to cost close to 130 million Br, according to people familiar with the project. The President’s family will be housed in mansion once belonged to the family of Prince Mekonnen Hailesellasie, who survived by his wife, Princess Sara Gizaw, and four sons.

Nationalized by the military government, the property of 40,000sqm has been serving as government offices, including the constitutional drafting commission in the early 1990s, and Ministry of Capacity Building.

It has been renovated recently, while two blocs including one where the Princess had lived after the death of her husband in 1957, due to traffic accident, are also preserved. A tennis court and a swimming pool are incorporated in the compound estimated to cover 40,000 sqm plot. Two guest houses are also added to host presidential guests. The renovated mansion and the new office are well furnished, after modern furniture is imported from Italy, according to sources. The Jubilee Palace on Menelik II Avenue, where the President and his family reside now, will be renovated before it is transformed to serve as a museum.

Source: Addis Fortune