WORK on Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the biggest mixed-use residential urban developments ever undertaken by the private sector in Bahrain, has made considerable progress since its launch last June.

Phase One of the land reclamation is nearly complete and work on Stage Two is proceeding well.
The developer, Diyar Al Muharraq will shortly issue tenders for the construction of the affordable homes on the development, the designs of which are being presently finalised. The first tender package will comprise around 800 units, Aaref Hejres, CEO of Diyar Al Muharraq tells Gulf Construction.
Commenting on the progress on the project, Hejres says: “The remarkable progress in land reclamation for Diyar Al Muharraq is bringing us ever closer to achieving our dream of crafting a city of the future today. Ninety eight per cent of Stage One, which involves reclamation of an area of 6 sq km (1.5 km by 4 km) – half of the development’s overall 12 sq km – has been completed, while work on Stage two has already started.
“This progress has been achieved due to precision planned activities on the part of Diyar Al Muharraq as lead developer, and the hard work of the various international consultants and contractors involved in the project. Our strategy is always to follow international best practice; and for the land reclamation, have only used the most advanced dredging and reclamation methods, which are also the most efficient in terms of completion time.”
Conveniently located off the northern shores of Muharraq, and just five minutes from Bahrain’s airport, Diyar Al Muharraq is being reclaimed using the services of Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of the US, in collaboration with the local contractor A A Nass, while international consultant Scot Wilson Kirkpatrick is monitoring the ongoing work. Bahrain-based HAJ is the overall project manager for the development while Hyder Consulting, the international advisory and design consultancy, is providing a range of design and supervision services for the first 6 sq km of the infrastructure including roads, bridges, traffic network, geotechnical services, water, electricity, communication, sewerage, drainage, district cooling and landscape architecture.
Commenting on the unique aspects of the new city, Hejres says: “Diyar Al Muharraq is signalling a new era and a proud future for Bahrain as it provides the stepping stones to meet people’s aspirations of property ownership. It’s a self-contained city for every strata of society, which is the first of its kind in Bahrain from a private developer.”

Masterplan
“We have dedicated a significant portion of the city to reasonably-priced housing, a market not yet fully tapped by private developers in Bahrain. We will also be helping in reducing the traffic towards Manama as people will have all the facilities required to work, live, shop and be entertained within the city premises.”
Offices of the government’s civic administrative work departments will also be located within the city, dispensing with the need to travel to Manama, while specialised goods such as building materials will also be available within the city in special dedicated areas.
The urban development’s anticipated total investment value is BD1.2 billion ($3.2 billion) with Kuwait Finance House (KFH) as the major investor, and it features a total of 30,000 residential dwellings, housing more than 100,000 people on completion. The development will be gradually released, with the first facilities ready for use by the end of 2010.
Diyar Al Muharraq has developed a detailed conceptual masterplan for the city, with internationally-renowned consultants in conjunction with local government agencies. He continues: “An urban development of this scale required us to thoroughly research many aspects, including urban planning, amenities, infrastructure, and environmental measures, among others. High-level consultations have ensured that the necessary and appropriate approvals are in place. The result is a comprehensive and methodical plan to progress on the many facets of Diyar Al Muharraq.”
The masterplan maps out a self-contained city with many accessible, landscaped public spaces, incorporating more than 40 km of waterfront, which includes sandy beaches and several marinas. Around 22 km of the beach will be open to the public, with special demarcated areas for families only. This will be among the largest publicly accessible waterfronts in the kingdom.
The entire project will have one, unique theme of Arabian/Bahraini architectural design, according to Hejres. “So any development within the project, whether done by us or by any other developer, will be stipulated a strict guideline on the design and other aspects of the development,” he points out.
With millions dedicated for landscaping alone, Diyar Al Muharraq will be one of the greenest cities in Bahrain. It aims  to promote a healthy lifestyle for inhabitants and visitors alike, with special lanes for pedestrians and cyclists, encouraging people to walk or bicycle within the city.
Besides the residential and commercial components, which include a downtown business district and a couple of iconic towers, the city’s comprehensive community services will include recreational, educational, medical, retail and other facilities, all supported by a high standard of infrastructure services. These includes abundant open landscaped areas, staff accommodation areas, a number of international five-star hotels, retail outlets including a large shopping mall with extensive parking, a downtown business district, educational and health centres, a logistics and storage services area, and a strip of car showrooms, among other community facilities.
The project has been driven socially in terms of what people want and like. Explains Hejres: “We conducted a market research and tried to understand what people desire of new cities; then, we took all the different elements and put them together. Hence, whether one’s budget is low or high, and whether you are a kid, teenager or an old person, there is something in it for everyone.
“Furthermore, in our planning of the city, we have strived to go one step ahead of anything that is already available in Bahrain or even regionally. For instance, the mall, which will be one of the biggest in Bahrain, is situated right near the waterfront and interlinking canals. Also, the hotels will be next to the waterfront and beaches. For easy movement within the development, we have planned for water taxis which can take people from their homes to the mall and from the marina to the downtown area, and even to the hotels by the waterfront. We will also construct a 5 km waterfront corniche, which will be open to the public.”
The city will also have its unique retailing flavour. The marinas, which will have retail and coffee shops in the front, will feature international suqs dedicated to different countries. Among those planned are Moroccan, Turkish and Indian suqs, which are expected to be attractive tourist destinations, featuring different products from the respective countries.
Diyar Al Muharraq intends to construct some components of the development itself while offering investment opportunities to other developers for some other components. Some of the components which it plans to develop include 25 to 30 per cent of the reasonably-priced accommodation, the four-storey buildings in front of the beach, the shopping mall, iconic towers and the marinas.
Soon in early 2009, it will be releasing some of the land parcels to other developers, who will be chosen carefully.
Developers will be given strict timelines to complete construction so that the community will achieve its vision, says Hejres. “We are at the final stages of going to the market with the freehold plots. Having been approached by a lot of developers – Bahraini and international, – we should be releasing the first plots shortly. We are stringent about not selling to speculators or individuals,” he adds.
Speaking on the present state of global financial turmoil and its impact on real estate projects in Bahrain, Hejres doesn’t think the Bahrain non-speculated market has been affected, as, according to him, it is a realistically and reasonably-priced one, where prices are the lowest compared to other GCC countries. The Bahrain market is driven by real demand and not on speculation, he says.

Infrastructure & utilities
Diyar Al Muharraq has also spent considerable time with its consultants working out the roads, traffic flow and car-park requirements of the project. Says Hejres: “We have strived to ensure that there are no stops or traffic lights when one either goes to the mall or to the downtown area within the development, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic. We have planned for 13 bridges, including some iconic bridges. When it comes to parking, we have exceeded the prescribed requirements in Bahrain for car-parks. For example, Bahrain’s busiest business districts mandate one car-park for every 100 sq m, whereas we have designed three car-parks for every 100 sq m. Also, the shopping mall will have a car-parking area that can accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles.”
For its energy and water requirements, Diyar Al Muharraq has chalked out an agreement with the government wherein the latter will provide the connectivity to its water and electricity supply to the border of the city, and Diyar Al Muharraq will develop the requisite infrastructure within the city, including the elevated tanks, underground tanks, pump stations for water distribution and the sub-primary stations and substations for electricity. The company is presently working closely with the Ministry of Works and Electricity in ordering the required equipment.
For sewage, the master developer has plans to set up four sewage treatment plants, though these are still at the planning stage. The city will be definitely opting for district cooling, with preliminary plans for at least a district cooling plant for the mall and towers around it, and another one for the downtown business area and hotels, he says.
In line with Diyar Al Muharraq’s vision to maintain the strong historical connection this area has with the sea, the new waterfront city has dedicated considerable resources to develop a comprehensive environmental initiative. This includes a selection of strategies and programmes to support and monitor marine life, fishing reserves and professional fishermen in Bahrain. This has been done by conducting numerous studies and researches in close cooperation with the environmental authorities, and with the involvement of international environmental consultants. The United Nations Environment Programme, according to Hejres, has rated the project very highly and has taken a keen interest in it.
The overall social objective of Diyar Al Muharraq as a development is to be all-inclusive. Says Hejres: “As a Bahraini company, run by Bahrainis, we wanted to contribute to our community. This is the first time that a private developer in Bahrain has invested in a development that includes various levels of housing as one of many options, all of which will share the same high standard of living and amenities. Our goal is to be part of a concerted housing strategy for the kingdom, and we are actively working towards securing close links with the relevant government departments, including chalking out an agreement with the Ministry of Housing to support its social housing programme through the development.”
The new city will also provide huge employment opportunities for local people combined with significant potential for investments across a range of residential and commercial properties, he points out.
“Diyar Al Muharraq will set a benchmark for how new communities should be developed and how they should look. Our aim is to ensure that the city will fulfil its promise to offer a new way of living, one which is ahead of its time and unlike any other Bahrain has seen until now,” Hejres concludes.