RIYADH: A SR3 billion housing project called Durrat Arriyadh was unveiled at a press conference here Saturday.
Built over an area of 3.2 million square meters and expected to be completed by the end of 2008, Durrat Arriyadh is aimed at changing the concept of housing construction, offering more green areas for residents in the desert country, said Engr. Hamza Al-Attas, Director of the Durrat Arriyadh Real Estate Development Company, Ltd, a subsidiary of Dallah Al-Baraka, the sole owners of the project.
Located north of the city, around 20-minute drive from downtown Riyadh, Durrat Arriyadh will have a total of 830 residential units, now open for potential buyers, Al-Attas said.
Available at a cost of between SR600 and SR800 square meters the housing units in Durrat Arriyadh are very much affordable for a common man offering a whole range of services including security to the inhabitants, he said.
However, he said, as per the Saudi law the project is still not open for foreign nationals living in the Kingdom.
Durrat Arriyadh, the first of its kind residential project in the Kingdom, is seen addressing the growing demand for housing units in the Saudi capital, whose population is increasing at a rate of 4 percent annually.
Al-Attas said the construction of Durrat Arriyadh would partly fulfill the ever-growing demand for housing units in Riyadh. In fact, there is a demand for some millions of new housing units during the next five years, he said.
"We are constructing only 830 residential units as part of Durrat Arriyadh, which may not be enough to address the high demand for housing units in Riyadh. Some millions of newly constructed housing units are required during the next five-year," Engr. Al-Attas pointed out.
He urged other builders and real estate developers and market players to emulate Durrat Arriyadh, as a unique example in housing projects and come up with ideas, which might change the whole housing scenario in Riyadh.
Saud M. Al-Gufaidy, architect of the project, said since Riyadh lacks seaside, Durrat Arriyadh will offer more green areas and walking space for residents."The architectural design of the project is an amalgamation of modern Spanish, Moroccan and local Najdi style," he said.
He said each residential unit will be built on an elevated area just like on a "hillside" offering a panoramic view. Residents can do gardening as a built-up fence will offer total privacy, he said.
The project will also include its own desalination plant for water needs, shopping malls, schools and universities. It would be like a city within a city with healthcare facilities and other utilities such as telephone, electricity and Internet.
Durrat Arriyadh will enclose 80-meter and 120-meter wide streets to be built over 15.5 kilometer area within the housing project.
By Shahid Ali Khan
© The Saudi Gazette 2007
