Oman’s Transport & Communications Ministry is setting up a project company to redevelop the old Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat as a leisure destination.

Speaking at MEED’s Oman Projects Forum 2015 in Muscat on 26 October, Hanan al-Rabbi, general director for planning and studies at the ministry, revealed the project will be developed in three phases.

The first phase is expected to start in 2016. It will involve a 180-room, five-star hotel and a 150-room, four-star hotel. It will also include 7,500 square metres of retail space and a 39,000 sq m mall, among other facilities.

The second phase, to start construction in 2018, involves similar elements of different sizes.

A consultancy contract on the port project was tendered earlier in the year.

The ministry will be welcoming private investments for the development, which will transform the Muscat waterfront.