JEDDAH, 20 March 2005 — Bahrain Financial Harbor (BFH), the waterfront business and financial district on the Manama Corniche, yesterday announced that the UK-based global real estate consultants, Knight Frank LLP, will be appointed the marketing, sales and leasing agent for the first phase of the development, the $270 million Financial Center, which is due for completion by the end of 2006.
The Financial Center is open for sales and lettings and has already attracted considerable interest. It consists of three components - the 53-story Dual Towers, the 9-story Financial Mall and the 10-story Harbor House. It offers a unique commercial office, integrated environment with business, shopping and leisure facilities all under one roof.
Terming that the partnership with Knight Frank is a significant step in the development of BFH, Abdul Rahman Al-Jasmi, managing director of the Bahrain Financial Harbor Holding Company, said that the appointment comes at a time when the project has stirred tremendous enthusiasm among the global finance and business community, eager to tap the growth potential of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets.
“Knight Frank is a leading real estate consultancy with long-standing client relationships in the global markets. Our association with them will emphasize the world-class nature of BFH and the unmatched opportunities it offers to investors across a range of segments spanning financial, residential, retail, media and leisure”, Al-Jasmi said.
The tie-up also marks the entry of Knight Frank into the Gulf markets. The real estate consultancy through its strategic alliance with Grub & Ellis and its partnerships and affiliates is present in over 30 countries worldwide. The network which has 9,000 people and over 200 offices in five continents handles 10 billion euros worth of commercial, agricultural and residential property transactions every year. It also provides advisory services to the owners and users of land and property on every aspect of real estate.
“Our association with Knight Frank is also a reflection of the positioning of BFH as a project that will attract both global as well as regional investment in line with the foreign investment policy of Bahrain. We are confident that Knight Frank will work with us in promoting BFH across global markets and investors keen to have a foothold in the region’s growing market,” he said.
The experience of Knight Frank in marketing major financial sector developments, like Canary Wharf in the UK, will bring tremendous value to BFH, Al-Jasmi added.
Commenting on the appointment, Clive Betts, a senior partner of Knight Frank said: “We are very excited to make our entry into the Gulf market particularly with such a global and regional landmark project as BFH. We are confident that BFH will be a great success and we are proud of being appointed.”
“Knight Frank considers this appointment to be only a starting point. We are convinced that there is scope to expand our relationship with BFH further ahead in the days to come, and it is in this spirit we look at the challenge of promoting the Financial Center component,” Betts added.