Heart of Jeddah grabs spotlight at Cityscape

The winners of Cityscape Awards were announced at a special ceremony held alongside the Urban Development and Real Estate event in Riyadh.
Real estate developers, consultants, architects and industry experts attended the event.
The Community, Culture and Islamic Architecture Award went to Al-Andalus Schools for their new 50,000 square meter project in north Jeddah, Al-Andalus Educational Complex, while the Residential Project Award (future) went to Reyadah Investment Co. for its Reyadah Housing Complex project.
Scoring a double win, the Heart of Jeddah developed by Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC) bagged both Best Commercial & Retail Project Award (future) and Best Urban Design and Master Planning Award.
Commenting on this remarkable achievement, Greg Mackowiak, vice president development at JDURC, said: “This is great news for the project, not only we have won two very important awards, but also got shortlisted for the Cultural and Islamic Architecture Award which we hope to win next year.”
In its third edition, the three-day event at the Riyadh Exhibition Center follows two very successful events in recognition of the growing importance of the real estate market in Riyadh.
“Day One was a great success, which allowed exhibitors to showcase their projects to a wide variety of stakeholders and benefit from the unique product mix Cityscape Riyadh offers,” said Hussain Al-Harthy, managing director, National Exhibitions Company, organizer of the event.
Tanween Arabia also had a dominant presence at the event where it showcased its new high-class residential community, Juman Village, located within the Ramlat Juman Masterplan of Al-Azizya, south of Alkhobar City. The project offers an integrated neighborhood supported by an advanced infrastructure featuring good quality facilities and services.
Al-Azizya District is fast becoming the natural extension of Alkhobar, just minutes from the King Fahd Causeway, connecting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
In addition, the project is in close proximity to Al-Aziziya beach, the popular destination for family gatherings and preferred leisure destination, boasting a wide variety of family entertainment and activities.
“This project is positioned to attract the middle income Saudi families looking for quality living at affordable prices,” said Ahmed Zayour, marketing manager for Tanween Arabia.
“In addition to private car parking space for every villa, Juman Village provides the vital facilities every thriving community needs including a mosque, landscaped open spaces and gardens, children play areas and public car park. Moreover, the Ramlat Juman Masterplan comprises a host of supporting amenities including schools, post office, police station, civil defense station and municipality offices.”
Cluttons, the real estate specialist, which has enjoyed a dedicated Middle Eastern presence since 1976, released in conjunction with its participation at Cityscape Riyadh 2012, a special report on the Saudi real estate market covering the office, retail and hospitality sectors.
Cluttons recently confirmed its commitment to the Saudi market by opening its first office in the country located in the Eastern Province in a clear indication of the growing demand for a well experienced and specialized company that can fulfill the requirements of the more sophisticated developers.
“With more developments nearing completion in Riyadh and encouraging positive economic indicators, we have realized that it is the right time for us to move our operations to the Kingdom and offer our property management expertise, valuation services and development consultancy to existing and new clients. Special focus will be given to the fast evolving real estate needs of the telecom, industrial and logistics sectors for specialist area of focus,” said Ian Gladwin, chief executive Middle East, MRICS.
Speaking at the summit, Nasser Nubani, general counsel at Capitas Group International, said: “In order to have a properly functioning and robust mortgage market, a mortgage law and regulations is not enough. There are five critical components of a functioning home finance market that need to be addressed — enforcement laws, efficient mortgage and title registration, a credit reporting system, reliable valuation mechanisms for the property being mortgaged and liquidity through a functioning Secondary Market. Without these building blocks in place, mortgage finance in any market will not be able to reach its true potential, and the general weaknesses in the legal and institutional foundation of any mortgage system have hindered housing finance growth in Saudi Arabia and throughout the region.”
There is no doubt that Riyadh Urban Development and Real Estate Investment Event — Cityscape Riyadh is one of the major real estate events in the Kingdom, supporting the government’s vision for growth in the real estate industry, highlighting iconic architecture and innovative development, and providing direct access to the region’s biggest real estate market — Saudi Arabia.