More than half the projects at King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Saudi Arabia are complete and the first phase of the development will be delivered by the end of this year, a senior executive at contracting firm Rayadah Investment Company (RIC) told Zawya.
KAFD is one of the most important projects of the Saudi Public Pension Agency (PPA). Construction is going strong on the project land in Riyadh on an area of 1.6 million square meters. The project is situated close to three highways - the King Fahd Road, the Northern Ring Road and Al-Thamama Road.
The district will become the new headquarters for the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in a 358-meter-high tower in the heart of the project. It will also become the headquarters of the Tadawul stock exchange and will have banks, financial institutions and related financial services and utilities companies.
According to Mohammed A. Al-Kharashi, governor of the PPA, the first phase is more than 85% complete and the second phase is close to a completion rate of 70%. The initial project cost is SAR 28 billion (USD 7.5 billion), but the final cost will be known after the project is complete.
According to Zawya Projects data, KAFD will be implemented in two phases. The first will comprise the construction of eight office buildings and a hotel, whereas the second will include the construction of the towers, car parking, CMA headquarters and a mosque.
© Zawya 2012
