Partner Content

A partner’s perspective on working with Sharakat

Saudi Arabia’s water scarcity is at the centre of a blossoming infrastructure market, with private partners at its core. Its prosperity is reflected in the success of a number of flagship projects

By SHARAKAT

Qatari Diar Real Estate Development Company (Qatari Diar) was established in 2004. One of its first projects was the Lusail development, located to the north of Doha.

The scheme has proven to be a long-term one. More than 10 years later, Qatari Diar and its subsidiary Lusail Real Estate & Development Company (LREDC) are still working on infrastructure for the project.

The development is one of the largest real estate schemes in the Middle East. It covers a total area of 35,000 square kilometres and is planned to house up to 200,000 people. The project is a key part of Qatar’s 2022 Fifa World Cup plans and will accommodate the 80,000-seat Lusail Iconic stadium.

After stalling in late 2008 due to the collapse of the region’s real estate market amid the global economic crisis, the project was revived after Qatar won the right in December 2010 to host the 2022 World Cup.

Lusail City is now scheduled for completion in 2020 and will feature residential clusters, commercial districts, shopping and leisure facilities, 22 hotels, and two golf courses. The masterplan divides the waterfront development into 19 integrated and mixed-use districts.

The majority of the Lusail scheme is to be developed by private organisations, with LREDC providing the infrastructure.

Last year the firm signed a QR4.2bn ($1.2bn) contract with a Qatari Diar joint venture with Jeddah-based contractor Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) to design and build infrastructure at Lusail. It includes the construction of a main highway, a public plaza, a car park, tunnels, flyovers and bridge crossings, a light rail transit station, a four-storey underground car park, local access roads, associated mechanical, electrical and hydraulic installations, and waterfront landscaping works. The SBG deal adds to the infrastructure construction agreements signed for Lusail in 2012.

Other developers are also working on schemes at Lusail. In early 2015, local developer Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Development Company awarded the local HBK Contracting an estimated QR950m contract to build Doha Marina Mall.

The mall will have three levels of shops, a hypermarket, a cinema and outdoor terraces overlooking the marina. Its total built-up area will be 235,100 square metres.

For future work LREDC met with contractors in late 2015 and revealed plans to tender work for four developments at Lusail. They are a new headquarters building for Qatari Diar, Seef Lusail Waterfront, a financial district and commercial boulevard, and a retail centre on the Qetaifan Islands. Each component is expected to be tendered separately.