A tender is due to be released imminently for the detailed infrastructure design contract on the first portion of the multi-billion-dollar Diar al-Muharraq mixed-use development, which is being developed by Diar al-Muharraq, a special purpose vehicle in which Kuwait Finance House Bahrain is a major shareholder. The infrastructure contract will include water, electricity and sewerage networks and internal roads and bridges.

The overall scheme will cover an area of some 24 square kilometres, with phase 1 to be carried out in two stages covering about half of that. It will include both affordable housing and higher-end residential units, in addition to tourism and leisure facilities.

The US' Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has been awarded the first-phase dredging contract. Work will begin following completion of environmental impact studies. The local Hisham Abdulrahman Jaffer is the project manager and the UK's Scott Wilson is carrying out the masterplanning. It is understood that phase 2 is some way off and may not be implemented due to the scale. If completed, the project would be about half the size of Muharraq itself and cover twice the area of Amwaj.

The scheme has gone through several incarnations. Originally it was to be called Asdaf Islands and to be implemented by Dala Development Company, led by local businessmen Saud Kanoo and Jameel al-Matrook, which is no longer involved. Subsequently, the concept was changed and the project was to be called Two Seas and built in the shape of a seahorse (MEED 20:5:05).

'The feeling was that the seahorse, and the elements to be included in it, were not appropriate for the kingdom,' says an official involved in the project. 'As a result, the plan was changed to include a more social element, to provide greater benefit to local residents.' New real estate projects in the kingdom are increasingly including an affordable housing component, as the government works to alleviate an acute housing shortage (MEED 27:10:06, Briefing).