Al Madina Real Estate Company, one of the largest property developers in Oman, is planning to start construction work on the first phase of its proposed $1-billion integrated tourism complex (ITC) project in Quriyat within the next two months, said a report.

Spread over a sprawling 1.3-million-sq-m area, the Quriyat ITC project comprises a golf course, a number of freehold residential units, a water park, and three-star hotels.

With the design and other formalities related to the company’s first ITC project fully completed, the construction work is set to start soon on the project, reported Muscat Daily, citing a senior official.

"This will be the first integrated tourism complex project to come up in the east of Muscat. Total investments envisaged in the project, which will be developed in multiple stages spanning over a period of 15 years, is around $1 billion," remarked CEO Engineer Abdul Rahman Barham.

"We are opting for a mix of debt and equity to finance the project," he added.

According to  Barham, there is a tremendous tourism potential in that area, and so far this location has been underserviced.
 
"We are currently working on a number of projects. We are offering premises for retailers and working on some residential projects as well. Works on some hotel projects are going well and we are hopeful that our ‘Shaden Al Hail’ hotel could be opened to public as soon as early next year," he added.

In Phase One, the Omani developer is constructing a 150-unit luxury hotel along with some ancillary units.

"If everything goes as per the plan, we are going to start the work in the next month or the month after that," he added.