Defying the impacts of the ongoing slowdown in Bahrain's real estate sector due to liquidity crunch, Riffa Views announced the handing over of its 300th villa to homeowners at a ceremony held yesterday.
"Although the economic environment remains challenging for developers, Riffa Views has been successful in ensuring all projects are on schedule. As a result, over 400 villas have now been completed and handed over to Riffa Views, and of these, 300 have been handed over to homeowners," Riffa Views in a statement said.
"A further 100 villas are scheduled to be handed over during the summer months," the statement added.
"Currently, there are over 30 contractors and sub-contractors working on the site," it said.
"We recognise that the situation continues to be challenging, but 2010 has seen the beginning of a recovery. The accomplishment of today's milestone is evidence that construction and villa handover continues to progress at Riffa Views and of our absolute commitment to delivering the project as envisaged," said Yasser Abdulrahman Al Raee, Managing Director of Riffa Views while handing over the keys to Mr and Mrs Al Ghanim, the 300th homeowner at Riffa Views.
"This is a very happy day for the whole family and we are all excited to be moving into our new home. When we first made the decision to purchase a house, Riffa Views was the obvious choice for us, as it offered high quality and the promise of a welcoming and safe community, as well as a premium location, beautiful surroundings, superb facilities, and a state-of-the-art school," he added.
"In the interest of meeting the needs of homeowners, the current development strategy has been amended to concentrate resources for the completion of the villas that have been sold. In addition, resources will also be directed to finishing the remaining infrastructure works. Further efforts will be directed to the acceleration of lifestyle elements such as landscaping, which will take place progressively."
Earlier this month it was announced that in the best interest of the project and the homeowners, the agreement between Riffa Views and G.P. Zachariades Overseas Ltd. (GPZ), one of the contractors responsible for the construction of some of the villas in Lagoons Estate, would be dissolved.
"We are taking all necessary steps to mitigate any potential delay caused by this situation. As an immediate alternative, Riffa Views is offering homeowners the option to relocate to any of the unsold villas that are ready for immediate or future occupation, either in Lagoons or in the other two Estates. Notwithstanding the situation with the Lagoons' contractor, construction and villa delivery in Oasis and Park Estates continues to progress as scheduled," added Al-Raee ended.
Riffa Views is the result of the vision of Arcapita, who formed a joint venture with Bahrain International Golf Company (BIGC) to execute the development.
The 1,056 villa project comprises three exclusively distinct Signature Estates, a Colin Montgomerie championship golf course, a world-class international school and state-of-the- art facilities and amenities.
By Mahmood Rafique
© Bahrain Tribune 2010
