RIYADH, 12 March 2007 — Construction work on one of the biggest real estate projects in the Kingdom is well underway here. The mega project, “Durrat Al-Riyadh”, was officially launched by Dallah Albaraka yesterday after receiving the green signal from the Municipality of Riyadh.
Unlike the famous “Durrat Al-Aroos” located in Jeddah, the project is not a resort neither does it require a one-hour-drive from the main city limits. It is a suburb located within a 20-minute-drive from the center of Riyadh. The idea, according to its chief engineer, is simple: to provide a closed community suburb in the capital where people could enjoy everything they need — all in one place.
“It will be the first community of its kind in the capital,” said Engineer Hamza Al-Attas of Dallah Albaraka, the mega project’s owner. “Only home owners or their visitors will be allowed to enter.”
The total area of the project covers 3.2 million square kilometers. The project is estimated to be worth SR3 billion. An overall 800 housing units will be available for sale. It is located off the Riyadh-Qasim highway.
“It will have everything from a five-star hotel to fitness centers, tennis courts, a mall, mosques, and SPA centers,” Al-Attas said.
“Owners do not even have to worry about sending their children out of the Durrah, because kindergarten and elementary schools will also be built in the premises.”
Contrary to the idea of most mega-real estate projects in the Kingdom, Dallah Albaraka seeks to provide 70 percent of the real estate’s landscape with grass and trees, while the remaining 30 percent will be housing units.
Among the concepts taking into consideration in the project is playgrounds for youngsters. According to Al-Attas, Dallah Albaraka intends to start selling title deeds for the project’s housing units from April 1. The project will be completed for owners to live in by the end of 2008.
CEO of Dallah Albaraka Abdullah Saleh Kamel described the project as “a world class suburb”. He said Durrat Al-Riyadh would adopt new and unprecedented investment and marketing concepts.
“Launching Durrat Al-Riyadh is an important development in the real estate market in Saudi Arabia,” said Kamel. “I believe it will be a step beyond the traditional approaches that are being applied for many years, without any reformulation.”
Kamel said that after sketches of the project had been improved by the Riyadh Municipality, excavation and asphalting work were completed.
He also said Durrat Al-Riyadh was an opportunity for people to “to move beyond the traditional styles of housing and to enjoy new and unprecedented benefits in the real estate investment.”
“The project satisfies the need of owners to own a residential unit that merges peacefulness with top services available in modern cities,” he said.
He explained that the modern design of the housing units and infrastructure focused on preserving the privacy traditions of Saudi households while at the same time enabling neighbors to get acquainted through its open public areas.
Investors in the project are adopting a unique ownership system that enables owners to enjoy living in a high-class suburb. The system is also seeking to develop appropriate ideas on how to manage the suburb while maintaining the objectives for which the project was started, including running facilities and public areas, as well as maintenance, operation and security works.
