The first phase of a gated villa district project comprising 206 villas, part of the USD 7 billion Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Madinah, will be delivered before the end of June 2012, a person close to the project told Zawya. KEC Real Estate Company launched the Dar El Jiwar project in the middle of 2011.
At the same time, the first three of KEC's four infrastructure phases will be completed by mid-2012 at a cost of around SAR 2.21 billion. These include linking the project with the electricity, water and sanitation networks and account for 40% of the total area of the northern region at KEC.
The KEC project is divided into three distinct phases. The first involves implementation of infrastructure as a top priority, including setting up internal municipal services for the Northern District.
The second is to attract investments in the knowledge sectors while focusing on education. The third involves real estate development projects through self-development of some vital ones and co-investment or by paving the way for other developers.
First Phase Projects
1. High-end residential district of 900 villas, to be the first gated district.
2. Complexes for residential buildings of apartments of different sizes and with integrated services, developed in cooperation with developers.
3. Complexes for visitors, expected to be a full-service destination for pilgrims.
4. Two multi-use towers will provide a hotel, exhibition and conference centers, offices and shops.
5. Area for shops and retail centers, designed as a heritage district.
6. Knowledge sector projects, including international schools, a technology college, and a museum.
The Haramain High Speed Rail Project at the edge of KEC, with its capacity of six million passengers, is considered one of the most important success factors that will coincide with the completion of the first phase development of KEC. Also important to KEC's success is the expansion of the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport to increase capacity to eight million passengers by 2014.
Dar El Jiwar District: The project covers 586,000 square meters, developed in four phases to include 900 residential villas, at an investment value of up to SAR 1 billion on completion of all development stages in 2014. 206 villas will be developed as a first stage, to be delivered during 2012.
Residential Buildings Area: This includes 1,000 residential units in six- to eight-storey buildings covering 136,000 square meters.
Visitors Housing Complexes: Fully integrated hotel complexes on King Abdulaziz Road on seven plots of land will provide more than 10,000 hotel rooms and a capacity up to 20,000 guests. These will be developed in several stages and through partnerships with other developers, at an investment value of up to SAR 2 billion.
Commercial and Hotel Towers: The first multi-use towers on the front of King Abdulaziz Road provide commercial services, offices, hotels, hotel apartments and shops.
Markets Complex: The market complex covers 186,000 square meters and it is connected to the Cultural Center.
© Zawya 2012
