regional overview 08
Below and right: Madinat Al Hareer, Kuwait
Below right: Blue City, Oman
Kuwait
In April 2009 it was announced that work on the US$946 million Al
Hamra Complex in Kuwait City by Al Hamra Real Estate is on track,
and the project is expected to be completed as scheduled by the
end of 2010. The commercial complex will include a 412-metre high
tower, which will be the tallest building in Kuwait when completed. The
building will connect to a five-storey shopping mall with a cinema.
The US$27.3 billion Sabah Al Ahmad Township is still in the
planning stage and is scheduled to be completed by March 2015.
Developed by Kuwait Public Authority For Housing Welfare,
the project covers an area of 40 square kilometres in southern
Kuwait and will comprise 11,000 residential units in a mixture of
high-rise towers and villas, as well as 45 schools, 70 mosques,
15 hospitals and clinics, a football stadium, cinemas, hotels and
government buildings. In May 2009, Sinohydro was appointed as
the main contractor for the infrastructure work in Area C.
A big budget project that has been put on hold is the US$5.5 billion
Khabary City in Fahaheel, by Al Dar First Holding. If built, it will contain
By far Kuwait’s largest real estate project,
several hundred residential and retail units, cinemas, restaurants,
hotels, mosques, hospitals, with a total built up area of 770,000
indeed one of the largest in the region, square metres. Construction work will be carried out over multiple
is Madinat Al Hareer (City of Silk)
phases. This year, Kuwait University plans to start construction
work on the New University City in Shadadiyah. The US$5.2 billion
project will feature 18 separate colleges for men and women and
a 600-bed hospital for the medical faculty. The scope of work
includes several faculties, dormitories and sports facilities, with the
Another island-based mega project is Diyar Al Muharraq, with an campus designed to house 40,000 people. Design work is being
investment of US$3.2 billion, backed by Kuwait Finance House. finalised and the development is expected to be completed by 2014.
The project involves the reclamation of 12 square kilometres of
land and the creation of an integrated community with 30,000 But by far the country’s largest real estate project, indeed one of
residential units, a number of international five-star hotels, a the largest in the region, is Madinat Al Hareer (City of Silk), which
shopping mall and a business district. will cost US$77 billion. The development has been approved and
construction work is scheduled to start by the end of 2009. The city
CEO of Diyar Al Musharraq, Aaref Hejres, provides an update will cover an area of 250 square kilometres and will be centred on the
on the project: “Work is on track – we have almost finished the 1,001-metre high skyscraper, Mubarak Tower. Madinat Al Hareer will
dredging for phase one and we have completed 10 percent of be made up of various zones including cultural, film, media, industrial
the dredging and reclamation work for phase two. By November business, sports and leisure, environment and health cities. There will
2009, the reclamation work will be finished. We have also also be a national wildlife convention centre, exhibition centres, parks
completed the concept and the detailed master plan of some and housing for 700,000 people. The project is being developed by
assets. Our target is to build some of the houses this year – we Kuwait Ministry of Public Works (MPW), Ajial Real Estate Company
are now working on the drawings for some of the small villas. We and Tamdeen Real Estate Company.
will develop certain parcels of land, and we will sell the remaining
parcels to other developers.” Kuwaiti developer Al Mazaya Holding is working on several projects
in the country, such as the Global Tower, a 22-storey office building,
Despite the challenging times, Hejres is confident in the Bahrain the Al Roya residential complex in Al Mahboulah, and the 19-floor
market: “The Bahrain market is in good shape because it is driven Clover Medical Complex in Jabriya. However, Khalid Esbaitah,
by a real demand, not by speculators. There is a big demand for managing director and CEO, says that precautions have been taken
housing – the Ministry of Housing has 50,000 families waiting for in light of the current market conditions: “All of Mazaya’s properties
accommodation. We are in a good position because this is a real are carefully selected to be located in prime locations, but the current
project. We have done all the studies and we are not targeting a decline in prices in the property sector has made Al Mazaya take
speculator market – we have other developers working with us some precautious measurements that will render the company and
and we are in this for the long-term.” its projects safe from current and future market fluctuations.”
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