New Community planned for Saudi Arabia

John H. Wilks
For Al-Shorfa.com
2008-07-01

Saudis read the news in the lobby of a hotel in the eastern city of Al Khobar. (Photo by Bilal Qabalan/AFP/Getty Images)

A new gated community will soon be rising from the sands of Saudi Arabia, complete with 11 mosques and 2,000 private villas.

The Al Khobar Lakes project will cover some 4.3 million square metres, including 80,000 square metres of lakes. It is being built by the world’s largest property developer, Emaar Properties of Dubai.

Spread over 2.6 million square metres in the east of the country, the first phase will have 11 mosques, including a Grad Mosque for Friday prayers, educational complexes, shopping centres, a community centre, coffee shops, restaurants and healthcare facilities.

Prince Mohammed ibn Fahd, governor of the Eastern Province, broke the ground at the start of $1.2 billion [USD] investment.

Abdullah Saed, CEO of Emaar Properties, said at the launch: “Al Khobar Lakes is the first lake front gated community and the largest in the region, and will contribute to the socio-economic prosperity by creating new job opportunities for the local population.

“Saudi Arabia has made rapid strides in overall economic growth and is now one of the most competitive economies in the world,” he added.

The Al Khobar Lakes project is the second prestigious project to be announced by the company.

Only a matter of days before, the Al Ghadeer residential village project was announced which will be built on the north east side of Al Khobar Lakes. Spread over 231,000 square metres, it will feature 226 residential units all with private fences to ward off unwelcome visitors.

It will also feature green spaces, some 11,000 metres of them and will be built around another lake.

Emaar Properties have also launched the Jeddah Gate project. Located in the heart of the city and costing some $1.6 billion it will feature some 6,000 residential units as well as retail, leisure and commercial spaces. There will be pedestrian walkways and landscaped plazas.

The chairman of Emaar Properties is Mohammed Ali Al Abbar. He was educated at Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University and is entrusted by the Crown Prince of Dubai with all projects for the federal government.

Established in 1997 as a public joint stock company it is listed on the Dubai financial market. It doubled its share capital through a rights issue making it worth $25 billion, the world’s largest listed property developer. Foreign ownership was also raised from 20 to 49 per cent.

This attracted investment from Hampton’s International Holdings, London, WL Homes (John Laing Homes), and USAU.S.

They have also announced a partnership with Giorgio Armani to develop a worldwide group of luxury hotels and vacation resorts in prime locations, including London, New York, Milan, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo and Dubai where the first hotel will be sited.

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