Aldar and Millennium to develop financial district in Malaysia

Aldar Properties and Millennium Development International will lead the development of the new multi-billion dollar Iskandar Financial District (IFD), located in the southernmost tip of Malaysia, adjacent to Singapore.

The development will be undertaken on behalf of Global Capital, an investment entity representing prominent Gulf and Malaysian Investors.

As the lead investor in Medini Iskandar, Global Capital - made up of a Mubadala consortium of investors that includes Aldar, Malaysia Ventures, Unity Capital, United World Infrastructure and Iskandar Investment Berhad - has collectively committed more than $848 million in the land and infrastructure development within Medini Iskandar.

The IFD will be the new heart of Medini Iskandar Malaysia, an integrated development area in the Iskandar Development Region, itself a premier econ-omic growth region promoted by both national and local governments as a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Estate_Property/10247478.html

ACC secures Dh520 million contract for residential towers in Pearl Qatar

QACC, a subsidiary of Arabian Construction Co. (ACC), has been awarded an estimated Dh520 million ($142 million) contract to build residential buildings at the Viva Bahriya district on the Pearl-Qatar in Doha.

Known as VB 29, the project involves the construction of a 20-storey residential tower with a two-level podium, a five-storey apartment building, and town houses.

The total built-up area is 91,000 square metres and the construction duration is expected to take 26 months.

This is the second contract that the project developer, United Development Company (UDC), has awarded QACC.

QACC's General Manager said that the company was honoured that UDC continues to trust and support the quality of its work.



ACC's first project with UDC in 2006 was a Dh622 million ($170 million) project consisting of two mixed-use towers, also on the Qatar Pearl project.

QACC is constructing a total of five towers on the Pearl for UDC, First Qatar Real Estate and UAE-based Capital Investments.

Viva Bahriya is being touted as "the perfect location for family living, celebrating the essence of the Northern Mediterranean." The family destination wraps itself around a harbour and is bordered by a clean white beach. Moroccan styled townhouses and apartments with their Moorish elegance offer 360-degree views across the harbour and towards the beach. Residents and visitors will be able to enjoy the landscaped marine promenade, have access to a wide range of water sports and a variety of gastronomic and shopping opportunities.

Major residential and commercial project unveiled in Muscat

One more project has been announced in Muscat as the race in the booming property market hots up, especially for apartment blocks.

Ironically the new 65 million Omani riyal (Dh621.35 million) project of Al Qandeel Real Estate Services has been named Old Town and will have 550 residential units in the prime Mumtaz Area in the centre of the capital.

"Units in Old Town are available for GCC nationals," Haitham Al Lawati, Al Qandeel Managing Director, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the formal launch of the project at the Afrah Ballroom of Muscat Grand Hyatt.

'Old Town' is a Residential and Commercial Project, conceived on the tenets of a fully integrated complex, and will be built on a plot of land measuring 36,000 square metres and overlooking Ruwi district.

Al Lawati said that the response was encouraging and even before the formal launch almost 50 units were already booked. "The project is for middle income segment and upmarket and there's ample scope for it to succeed," he claimed.

'Old Town', is strategically located on a hill in Mumtaz area at Ruwi and is designed for construction of multi-storey towers rising up to penthouse on the seventh storey. "We will have 550 flats of two bedroom and three bedrooms," he added.

No restrictions

There will also be a shopping mall area and office premises and a full-fledged health club.

Replying to a question, Al Lawati said that their first such project in Al Shatti area was successful. "We have a team of management people to look after the property once each unit is handed over to the rightful owners," he said, adding that there are no restrictions on owners renting out their premises.

Old Town will have seven blocks, five Residential Blocks of GF plus 5 Floors plus Penthouse. All flats will have spacious areas, with functional and aesthetic designs.

The Bazaar

Block six will feature a commercial and residential area called 'The Bazaar', the ground floor will accommodate a commercial rentable area for excess of 50 shops and the first floor housing 50 offices.

In Block 7, 'Old Town' a full-fledged Health Club, that will contain a swimming pool, tennis court, indoor squash court, club house, children's playground and premium restaurants, in addition to an underground parking facility for up to 1,000 cars. http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Estate_Property/10245329.html

Al Barakah launches project in Dubailand

Al Barakah, a Dubai-based real estate group with a project portfolio of more than Dh12 billion, has unveiled a new Dh4.5-billion luxury residential development in Dubailand.

Le Stelle, or The Stars, is being developed by EGSI Group, a part of Al Barakah.

The project has been designed by Korea-based architectural firm Heerim and Italian interior design firm Modo Milano.

It is slated for completion by 2011-end and will be managed by Primatec International.

$300m sugar plant in Sudan

Bin Omeir Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based private investment group, is considering investing $300 million to build a sugar refinery in Sudan and may plan further projects in the country, a Sudanese embassy official said on Wednesday.

The plant would produce 100,000 tonnes of sugar and 20 million litres of ethanol a year in the White Nile province of Sudan, said Nour Al Huda Abdul Alim, economic adviser at the Sudanese embassy in Abu Dhabi.

A company official who asked not to be named confirmed the report, without giving details.

Bin Omeir Holding, a large family-owned business group based in Abu Dhabi, has investments in automobile dealerships, tourism, export and import, financial sector and other businesses.

Nobles plans big with Libya project

Nobles Properties, a new real estate company, is developing the $500 million Tripolis Towers in Libya, officials said yesterday.

The Tripolis Towers in the heart of the Libyan capital Tripoli will be developed in line with an agreement signed with OYA Tourism Investment and Development, a subsidiary of Libya's Economic and Social Development Fund.

The Tripolis Towers will comprise two 40-storey residential towers on 275,000 square feet of waterfront land in Tripoli. The total built-up area will be 3.5 million square feet.

One tower will include a five-star hotel with business facilities, serviced apartments and retail space. The second tower will contain office space.

A Nobles Properties' spokesperson could not confirm the number of serviced apartments, but said the hotel would comprise 300 rooms.

Unit sizes and prices were also not known, the spokesperson said.

Omar Ayesh, founding chairman of Nobles, said this was a "significant" agreement in Libya as part of the company's plans to expand in the Arab world.

"We see great potential in the Libyan market and its outstanding level of economic competitiveness, which stems from a unique combination of attractions that cannot be found elsewhere," Ayesh said.

Wissam Al Idrissi, general manager of OYA, added that Libya is enjoying a period of substantial econ-omic growth, thus attracting many development opportunities.

There is a growing demand in the Libya for multi-purpose property developments, which Dubai developers plan to exploit.

ETA Star and OHI launch luxury township in Oman

One more player from Dubai has arrived in Oman to fill the 'vast gap' for apartment units against the demand as Muscat keeps expanding in every direction.

"In the last couple of years nearly 5,000 housing units have come up in Muscat, but there's room for more," Abid Juneid, executive director of Dubai-based ETA Star Properties, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a signing ceremony on Saturday at the Oman Holdings International Co (OHI) headquarters in Muscat.

ETA Star Properties inked an agreement with Oman-based OHI to launch a premium luxury township at Qurum, in the heart of Oman.

"The new 5,000 apartment units are just the tip of the iceberg and there's immense potential to develop property in Oman, which is witnessing robust, all-round growth," said Maqbool Hamed Al Saleh, chairman of the OHI Group, after signing the agreement.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Estate_Property/10243164.html

Burj Dubai hits a new high

Burj Dubai, the iconic tower being developed by Emaar Properties, has
reached another record height of 688 metres (2,257.2 feet).

The
tower became the world's tallest after surpassing North Dakota's,
United States, KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2,063 ft) in April 2008.
Currently at more than 160 storeys, the tower also has the largest
number of floors in any building.

When completed, Burj Dubai
will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and
Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world's tallest structures.

CTBUH
measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest
occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle,
antenna, mast or flag pole.

Designed by Chicago-based
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Burj Dubai is constructed by
high-rise experts South Korea's Samsung Corporation.

Turner Construction International is the project and construction manager.

Currently, some 7,500 professionals and skilled workers are employed on-site at Burj Dubai.

Cladding work is almost nearing completion and work has started on the interiors, which will boast superior finishes.

The
best energy efficient technologies are being deployed to ensure that
the iconic building is also a standard for energy usage and recycling
of water.

Burj Dubai anchors Emaar's flagship mega-project, the Dh73 billion Downtown Burj Dubai.

Described
as the new heart of the city, Downtown Burj Dubai is a mixed-use
neighbourhood with premium hotels, business facilities, modern
residences, shopping malls as well as excellent leisure facilities.

Sheffield Real Estate works on projects worth Dh7bn

Sheffield Real Estate currently has projects worth Dh7 billion, said the Dubai-based private developer in a statement.

"We
have been working very closely for the last year to get our current
projects on stream, including our flagship project in Dubai Marina,
Marina 101. We have already awarded an Dh1.1bn contract for Marina 101
recently and we are in the process of finalising the contract for our
commercial development, Corporate Towers in Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT)
community,"

"Over the last few years, we have diversified our portfolio in line
with the market needs, which is why we forayed into commercial
development as well as retail. We believe that the real estate market
of Dubai will remain on the growth trail, particularly because of the
number of legislations and regulations brought in by the Land
Department and Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera). These regulations
will bring in more transparency and prudence to the market which will
benefit Dubai realty in the long run," said Shroff.

Sheffield
currently has projects across Dubai, which include International City,
Jumeirah Lake Towers and Mizin. The realty firm has undertaken to
diversify its portfolio in Mizin where the developer is building a
retail mall.

Sheffield Real Estate is expected to announce projects in Nakheel's master-development project, Dubai Waterfront

On
its Dh1.7 billion project in Dubai Marina, The Marina 101, a tower
comprising of a hotel component and hotel apartments, the developer
envisages its investors to gain a return on investment of about 75 per
cent.

Marina 101 is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.

Tameer finalises pact

Tameer and Sorouh yesterday finalised a pact with a joint venture of Al
Habtoor Engineering, Murray & Roberts and Al Rajhi Projects to
construct the Tameer Towers project in Abu Dhabi for Dh6 billion.

This
brings the total cost of the project to Dh8bn, which is a joint venture
between Tameer Holding Investment and Sorouh Real Estate, said the two
firms.

"The alliance has confirmed the delivery date of June
2011 for the residential portion and December 2011 for the commercial
portion," said Dr Abdallah Shaaban, Managing Director of Tameer. "The
selection of construction partner represents a giant step towards
reaching our delivery goals, and will complement the host of partners
already working on the project."

Tameer Towers was launched in
2007. The construction partners join the project team that includes the
UK-based architectural firm Gensler, structural engineering firm
Thornton Tomasetti, mechanical engineering firm Hilson Moran, and the
façade engineering firm Buro Happold, in addition to the project
manager Hill International and the construction manager Bureau Veritas.

Tameer Towers is in Shams Abu Dhabi, the new development on Al Reem Island that is master-planned by Sorouh Real Estate PJSC.

Dr
Shaaban said: "The alliance concept is a pioneering idea adopted by
Tameer in which all the partners act as one with the main purpose of
constructing the project with the utmost attention to quality, cost,
and delivery. This innovative concept is new to this market and will
mitigate many of the delay-resulting risks associated with claims,
delays, and the rising costs of manpower."

Nakheel yet to award STP contract

Nakheel yesterday said that it is yet to award the contract for
building the first phase of a sewage treatment plant (STP) for The
Palm, Deira.

It
has only selected the Corodex system for developments on Palm Deira.
"Concorde-Corodex Group (CCG) and six other companies were in the
running for the contract to build the first phase of a sewage treatment
plant for Palm Deira, however, we have not made any related
announcements on this contract yet.

CCG said the company has
won the contract to provide the temporary sewage system and associated
vacuum sewerage to facilitate the pre-phase of construction at the Palm
Deira Promenade and sales offices.

Corodex is one of the first private companies in the Emirates to offer water treatment services.

Saudi steel industry booms

A sustained economic and construction boom triggered by soaring oil
prices has given a strong push to the steel industry in Saudi Arabia
and strong demand has boosted prices to one of their highest levels, a
key Saudi bank said yesterday.

Despite hectic competition from
imported steel, the local industry is projected to continue flourishing
because of surging demand as the kingdom is pushing ahead with projects
worth more than $460 billion (Dh1.69 trillion), including a major steel
railway linking its east and west, the National Commercial Bank (NCB)
said in a study on Saudi Arabia's steel industry

Its forecasts showed total supply of iron and steel products will grow
by 13.8 per cent to 15.57 million tonnes in 2008 with domestic demand
set to absorb 89.4 per cent (13.9 million tonnes) and exports 10.6 per
cent (1.65 million tonnes). Supply from domestic production meets
nearly 55 per cent of the total market demand while imports account for
the remaining 45 per cent.

Saudi crude steel output rose by 21.9
per cent to 1.3 million metric tonnes in the first quarter of 2008 from
the first quarter of 2007. The report showed the kingdom's exports of
iron and steel products will rise by about 6.5 per cent to 1.65 million
metric tonnes in 2008.

Domestic demand for steel products is
projected to expand by nearly 14.7 per cent to 13.92 million metric
tonnes in 2008. Total market value of iron and steel products is
expected to rise 18.7 per cent to SAR43bn (Dh42.17bn) in 2008.

"The Saudi economy doubled since 2002, with GDP rising from SAR707bn to
SAR1.41 trillion in 2007 and the medium-term outlook through 2010 is
very favourable. The current boom is accompanied by an acceleration of
economic reforms and sharply growing inflows of foreign investment,
adding to the sustainability of the boom, but with inflationary
pressure," it said.

"In the next five years, a growing number of
mega-projects with estimated investment of SAR1.73trn are entering
implementation stages while some of them have already started civil
works that we expect to continue in the next 15-20 years. All of these
projects contain a large construction component which would induce
aggregate demand for steel and cement. We expect growth in steel demand
to remain strong in the coming years."

According to NCB, Saudi
Arabia's largest commercial bank, the kingdom's steel industry has been
successful in achieving import substitution of numerous products,
particularly those subjected to 20 per cent protective custom duty.

The
figures showed Saudi steel imports jumped by nearly 40.1 per cent to
6.4 million metric tonnes in 2006 and are estimated to have edged up
further by five per cent to about 6.7 million metric tonnes in 2007.

In
the same period, Saudi Arabia exported 1.5 million tonnes and 1.6
million tonnes, respectively. Thus, net imports (imports minus exports)
shot up by 84.6 per cent to 5.2 million tonnes in 2006 and are
estimated to have risen by 6.1 per cent to 5.2 million tonnes in 2007.

In
value term, steel imports rocketed by 70.6 per cent to SAR21.4bn in
2006, and are expected to have further grown by 2.4 per cent to SAR22bn
in 2007.

"One of the significant achievements of the Saudi iron
and steel industry has been its clear ability to expand exports while
enhancing the value-added factor in the domestic economy," the study
said.

"In general, the overall iron and steel industry has
reached a development stage whereby it is not only competing with
foreign products in the domestic market but also has captured a notable
share in the neighbouring foreign markets."

According to the
study, at an overall average price of SAR2,620 per tonne, the aggregate
market value of iron and steel products sold by the Saudi Arabian
companies is estimated to have swelled by 24 per cent to SAR36.2bn in
2007.

"The sharp rise in steel prices and volume of consumption
in the kingdom were the major factors behind rising market size last
year," it said.

"Thus, in the domestic market perspective, the
likely future of capacity overhang situation would tend to intensify
competition among local steel producers and foreign exporters.

"This,
however, is likely to affect domestic steel producers' long-term
profitability notwithstanding, the kingdom's supportive regulatory
regime along with cheap energy cost and the protective tariffs, local
industry will continue to maintain a competitive edge over foreign
producers," the report said.

The study noted that the massive
wave of ongoing construction activities in Saudi Arabia has created
what it described as a "sizeable transient demand" for building
materials including numerous steel products and reinforcing bars.

"In
addition, the establishment of seven new economic cities and the
approval of the much awaited steel intensive railway project linking
east and west of Saudi Arabia are set to create huge amount of demand
for steel in the next five to ten years. In response to emerging huge
transient demand, major players in the steel industry have drawn plans
to expand industrial capacity," the study said.

http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2008/9/Pages/09032008_38f9e28c5ea848c0a97a227c21e07fcb.aspx