US-based consultant Aecom began designing infrastructure in early-May on the estimated $3bn Al-Marina development near the Eastern Province city of Dammam.

According to a source close to the project, Aecom was appointed by the local Injaz Development Company in April this year to design infrastructure for the 3.3m square-metre mixed-use project. Injaz is planning for infrastructure to be finished at Al-Marina by the second quarter of 2013.

The Al-Marina masterplan was designed by UK-based consultant Cracknell and approved by the Eastern Province municipality in early-2009. The local Zaid al-Hussain Group finished backfilling the project site in early May, said the source. Dubai’s CIMS is managing the project (MEED 6:11:08).  

Al-Marina is located 25 kilometres west of Bahrain and just south of Dammam’s King Abdulaziz Seaport. It will be developed in nine phases and will include the following components:

• Six clusters of mid-rise government buildings
• 120,000 sqm shopping mall
• 650 villas ranging from 600-800 sqm
• Six-storey residential buildings
• Eight-storey residential/retail buildings

The development will also include a 400,000 square-metre medical city which will be the second largest facility of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The project will also feature a 300,000 square-metre lagoon that is undergoing additional design work.

At present, the masterplan does not contain high-rise buildings as the municipality has yet to approve tall towers for the development.  

Injaz officially launched Al-Marina in 2008 at Cityscape Dubai. It expects the project to take between 15 and 20 years to complete.