Saudi-based Aknaf Al Khaleej Company has been awarded a construction contract for an integrated residential neighbourhood project coming up on a sprawling 580,000-sq-m area along the Makkah-Jeddah Expressway, reported The Saudi Gazette.

The giant residential project is being developed by Al Balad Al Amin Company, the investment arm of Makkah Mayoralty, as part of its SR60-billion ($16 billion) Makkah Gate housing scheme, reported The Saudi Gazette.

The project will be located 18 km from the Grand Mosque in Makkah and 5 km from the Qur’an Gate, it added.

Mayor of Makkah Muhammad Al Quwaihes, the chairman of the board of directors of Al Balad Al Amin Development and Urban Regeneration Company, said that there would be separate residential areas for families and bachelors within the township.

The Makkah Gate project, which will be a natural extension of Makkah, is being designed to accommodate about 800,000 residents on completion within 15 years.

The township also boasts a commercial zone, big garden and mosque, international school for all phases of education, health centre, sports clubs for men and women, tennis courts, artificial lagoons, and solar and sewage plants, it added.