H E Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali (second right), Chairman of the Board of Barwa Real Estate Company; Issa Mohammed Al Mohannadi (second left), Vice-Chairman and Managing Director; and other Board Members, at the Company’s Annual General Meeting held yesterday
The Barwa Real Estate Company’ has completed its new labour city project along the Salwa Road and the commercial leasing agreements for the 3,170 residential houses is to begin within the second quarter of this year, a top official of the real estate company announced yesterday.
Construction contract for the QR1.29bn affordable housing project was awarded to INSHA Company in 2017.
“Our Salwa Road project for affordable housing development for the workers has already completed. We are expecting the leasing process to start by the second quarter of this year,” Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Barwa Real Estate Company told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Company’s Annual General Assembly held yesterday.
Al Mohannadi added: “We are testing the market demand with the Salwa Road project. If it becomes successful, we have plans to expand and duplicate the project at other locations, which is subject to the feasibility.”
The new labour city project in Salwa Road occupies an overall area of 994,567 square metres and includes 3170 residential houses, each comprising of 8 rooms, 8 bathrooms, and a kitchen.
Additionally, the project includes retail shops and mosques with a total building area of 730,728 square meters. It includes a private courtyard for each house, allowing its residents to enjoy the outdoor activity while ensuring their privacy.
The traditional Arab style of the project’s houses is compatible with the surrounding environmental conditions.
The real estate major has several expansion projects as part of its long term plan, which includes massive increase in the number of affordable housing units across the country. The company in its Annual Report has unveiled some of its proposed projects, which include development of two huge affordable housing cities for workers which will be located in in Al Wakra and Al Khor. These projects will be duplicating the Salwa Road’s labour city project model.
Al Wakra labour city project will be implemented on a land area of 773,457 square metres (sqm). It will be an integrated residential complex with 2008 residential units to accommodate about 96,000 workers.
The Al Khor labour city project extends over a land area of 1.23 million sqm (1,237,981sqm). It will also be an integrated residential complex with 3100 residential units to accommodate about 148,000 workers.
The company’s Ordinary General Assembly, which was presided over by H E Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali, Chairman of the Board of Directors, approved all the items on the agenda of the meeting, including the Board of Directors’ proposal for the distribution of a cash dividend of 25 percent (QR2.5 per share).
The company said that its real estate portfolio has grown to include 7,232 residential units, 12,706 worker rooms, 295,891 square metres of shops, showrooms and offices and 260,959 square meters of workshops and warehouses.
The company is initiating the construction of the expansion project of Al Khor Sports Facilities, with a total built-up area of 53,639 square meters and a construction cost estimated at QR05m. In addition to the completion of Salwa Road project, the company also announced the completion of Dara (A) project in Fox Hills Zone in Lusail City and phase nine of Al Khor project.
Among other things, the meeting also discussed improving the operational efficiency of the Group’s current projects where the occupancy rate in most of them exceeds 95 percent.
Barwa said that upon completion of ongoing projects, it is expected to add them to the Group’s operational portfolio by the end of 2019. These projects include 4,067 residential units, 573 warehouses and 135 workshops, and 32,399 square metres as rental space for showrooms, offices and shops.
