JEDDAH, November 27 — The newly founded Makkah International Company for Development has decided to invest SR580 million in real estate business in the holy city.
The decision to construct five huge residential facilities in the Haram precincts was taken at the company’s first general body meeting held in Makkah on Friday.
Muhammad ibn Isa Al-Jabir, chairman of the company, said in the meeting that the company has decided to start the construction project by the end of the holy month of Ramadan so that increasing demand for pilgrims’ residential requirements can be met as early as possible.
However, market sources fear that the decision of the company to embark on huge construction projects at prime locations will trigger tough competition in the real estate business in Makkah.
The other leading real estate establishment in the holy city, the Makkah Construction Company, owns many hotels and apartment blocks at locations parallel to the Grand Mosque on the southern side. The Jabal Omar project is another ambitious project being undertaken by the Makkah Construction Company.
According to Al-Jabir, his own company has successfully completed viability studies for its projects.
"They have pointed out that Makkah’s real estate sector will attract investments up to an approximated SR10 billion in the next two years," he said.
He added that the company will be converted into a joint stock company in order to attract more investments. It is because "the real estate sector in the city is open to more and more investment that will cater for the huge influx of pilgrims, projected to cross the 10 million mark in the next two years."
The company in the primary stage will offer its shares to a limited number of investors.
The meeting, which elected Al-Jabir as chairman and Muhammad Al-Khereiji as deputy chairman of the board of directors, was also attended by a number of prominent businessmen.
