In October 2012, Bahrain’s Khaleeji Commercial Bank announced its Al-Jawhara City project. The 260,000-square-metre mixed-use freehold development in Lusail will house 10,000 residents and will be centred around the Al-Jawhara City Hospital, a 35,000-sq-m medical centre. Onsite development started in March 2012, and the $25m infrastructure work on 26 plots should be completed by July 2013.

At the project launch, Khaleeji Commercial Bank’s head of investments, Ozan Beniloglu, said that two healthcare providers, one from India and another from Europe, had already approached the project owner about running the hospital.

Education providers offering US and British curriculums have also approached the lender about running Al-Jawhara’s 2,000-pupil school. The city will also have a 146-room, four-star hotel.