Construction & Real Estate
Outsourced facilities management sector in GCC to cross AED 36.7 billion by 2012
The multitude of modern skyscrapers, manmade islands and mega-projects that dominate the GCC skyline have resulted in an unprecedented growth in the region's construction sector. This flurry of construction activities in turn has spawned the need for top-end benchmarks to ensure the sustainability of these buildings thereby creating huge demand for the Facilities Management (FM) industry. "The Total Facilities Management industry in the Middle East is set to grow and become a very lucrative market," said Chris Fountain, event director of UK's CMPi, organisers of Working Buildings Middle East.
UAE'S Rakeen says forms real estate JV to enter India
UAE-based project development company Rakeen has formed a joint venture with an Indian firm to enter the booming domestic real-estate sector.
Rakeen, promoted by the government of Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE federation, has tied up with the Trimex Group of India for the venture, to be known as Rakindo Developers.
MoT plans to attract E£20 billion of private investment in road construction
The Egyptian ministry of transport plans to attract E£20 billion of new investments in "free" highways over the next five years, according to Mohammad Lotfi Mansour, the minister of transport.
The minister pointed out that the government plans for construction of these highways at investment costs close to E£30 billion. Of this amount, the local and international private sector is targeted to contribute E£20 billion.
Energy City signs QR171m contract with Qatar Building Co.
Related Cos is getting US$1.4 billion in funding from investors that include Goldman Sachs Group Inc, an affiliate of the investment arm of Abu Dhabi, and Michael Dell's MSD Capital investment firm, the privately held New York real estate developer said.
Each investor will also co-invest in future development projects, Related said. Related was behind the construction of New York's Time Warner Center and earlier this year agreed to buy the 11 Virgin Megastores music stores in North America from Virgin Entertainment Group.
Goldman, Abu Dhabi, MSD invest in NY developer
Energy City-Qatar has awarded an infrastructure works contract worth QR171m to the Qatar Building Co., following a heated tender competition amongst several national and international corporations.
Infrastructure construction works are scheduled for completion within 18 months, according to contractual terms.
Dubai World to sell US, UK property and buy in Asia
Dubai World, the investment holding firm of the Dubai government, plans to sell some of its properties in London and New York next year and redeploy some of that capital to real estate in Asia.
The group, which has about US$20 billion in real estate assets around the world outside of Dubai, wants to rebalance its portfolio to better weather the global effects of the U.S. subprime crisis.
Qatar: City within a city
This week Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) announced a new project to build the first integrated family destination in Qatar, providing places to live, work and play in one location. This comes amid a slew of projects currently under development in Qatar, where construction currently accounts for 5.2% of the country's total GDP.
As new projects are continually being announced, many developers have begun looking into ways to ensure their projects stand out from the crowd. Several developments are now being created under a mixed-use model, with the residential component combined with retail, hospitality and entertainment services, as well as office space, to create a dynamic neighbourhood.
News Analysis: Construction boom cements Orascom's growth
Egypt's Orascom Construction is seeing a dramatic rise in profits, fuelled by the Middle East building boom. The company now derives over 80% of its revenues from contracts outside the country, the majority of these from the Middle East and North Africa.
Orascom Construction chief executive Nassef Sawiris quotes high oil prices as the engine driving rising demand for construction and infrastructure projects in Orascom's main markets.
Solidere, SODIC to launch E£22 billion real estate schemes
The Lebanese company, Solidere, will cooperate with Egyptian SODIC to launch two major development projects in Egypt, with investments close to US$4 billion.
In a statement, the company said the first project will be located in the Sheikh Zayed area, east of Cairo, at investment costs of US$2.4 billion and the second will be in New Cairo with investment costs of US$1.6 billion.
Executive Briefing: Boom time for ME contractors
The construction boom currently taking place across the Middle East is being underpinned by a wave of ambitious road and rail transport schemes covering the entire region. Work is expected to begin next year on a United Arab Emirates (UAE) railway line that will connect all the emirates via an 800 km track forming part of a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)-wide network linking Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Egypt's OCI gets US$41m project in Abu Dhabi
Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries has received a letter of intent for a US$41m contract for infrastructure and landscape work on a real estate project in Abu Dhabi, OCI said.
