MADINAH, 24 June 2003 — The executive committee for the holy city’s central district development has recently approved more than 60 new projects estimated at about SR30 billion for the next 10 years, according to Madinah Mayor Abdul Aziz Al-Hussain. The projects include luxury hotels, apartment complexes and shopping malls.
Al-Hussain said the current projects near the Prophet’s Mosque represented only 25 percent of the total area earmarked for development. “The area has a current capacity of 100,000 visitors, and the number will reach 300,000 when the developments are complete,” he pointed out.
Mohammad Habis, chief executive officer of the Madinah Development and Investment Company, said the Al-Haram Shopping and Housing Center — to be built by the company on the eastern front of the Holy Mosque — was the biggest project in the central district. It includes a luxury hotel, a five-star hotel as well as seven housing towers and a mall.
