The SR15 billion ($4 billion), mixed-use Prince Sultan Cultural Center being built north of Jeddah, and Bawabat Makkah, a visionary city planned near Makkah, are among the top projects that will be featured at Cityscape Jeddah next month.

Both projects will be highlighted on day two of the Jeddah Real Estate Summit workshops, held alongside the  Cityscape Jeddah 2014,  taking place from May 4 to 6 under the patronage of Prince Misha’al bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Jeddah.

Ahmed Al-Sanousi, CEO of the Jeddah-based Prince Sultan Cultural Center (PSCC), will share remaining developer and investor requirements for the PSCC project.

“PSCC and neighboring projects are transforming the area into an extension of the kingdom’s commercial capital,” said Sanousi. “Summit attendees and exhibition visitors will learn of promising investment opportunities available for PSCC, including housing, education, tourism and hospitality, and commercial activities.”  

PSCC will be developed in phases over the next five years on an area of 2 million sq m on Madinah Road, adjacent to King Abdullah Sports City.  The center will have a state-of-the-art 920-bed medical complex, as well as an open-air theatre (Prince Sultan Cultural Oasis), a conference and exhibition centre, residences, and a wide variety of residential support facilities.

The Bawabat Makkah project, to be detailed by Eng Essam Kalthoum, managing director of Bawabat Makkah Company, will be a one-million-person city.

He said the government is allocating new funding and there are eight subprojects for Bawabat Makkah soon available for bid.

Commenting on building a sustainable city on deadline, Eng. Kalthoum said:  “Bawabat Makkah will have a significant impact on Makkah’s real estate market, thus it has been planned taking into consideration market demands combined with our commitment to social responsibility. It is phased to be developed according to availability of infrastructure and following a master plan dependent on the variance of land-use.”

Eng. Kalthoum went on to comment on stakeholder management techniques for politically-driven projects, saying: “Bawabat Makkah enjoys the support of the regional government as well as the Ministry of Rural and Municipal Affairs. Both agencies are backing up the Makkah Municipality, which is the main executor of most of the developments in Makkah. The most evident support can be seen in the establishment of Al Balad Al Ameen as the development arm of the Municipality of Makkah, with one of its main responsibilities being the establishment of proper partnership platforms with the private sector.”

Another discussion topic will be real estate developments in Saudi Arabia facing the old issue of privately-owned land being left undeveloped in order for it to accrue value. Stating that this issue does not apply to Bawabat Makkah, Eng. Kalthoum went on to explain: “Bawabat Makkah is based on government-owned land which was transferred by the government in order to be developed as the western suburb of Makkah. The land is under the ownership of Bawabat Makkah Company and away from land speculations. The key advantages of the land are: its location, terrain, proximity and connectivity to Makkah City.
 
In addition to these iconic projects, other topics being discussed by the Kingdom’s real estate leadership at the Summit include project funding, off-plan sales, ways to support the mortgage law, and the Kingdom’s construction labor shortage.

According to a new report issued by NCB Capital, the outlook for the real estate sector remains strong, with the Ministry of Housing making good progress on several initiatives and developers foreseeing benefits from this. This positive sentiment has made real estate the highest performing sector in the market, up 30 per cent, outperforming the TASI by 20 per cent.

Another contributing factor is the rise in real estate financing institutions now approved by Sama - 14 now, including 8 banks and 6 financing firms, signaling the announcement of full approval of the mortgage law sometime soon.
According to Colliers, the full implementation of the law may increase real estate financing by 60 per cent in the coming five years. Accordingly, financing between 2014-2019E will increase from the initial expected SR131billion to SR210 billion, the statement said.  - TradeArabia News Service