King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC)

KAEC inks $426m project contracts

Al Talah Gardens

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), the world’s largest privately-funded new city, said it had awarded contracts worth SR1.6 billion ($426 million) for its upcoming residential and industrial development projects in 2016.

Located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, KAEC covers an area of 181 sq km, approximately the size of Washington DC. It comprises King Abdullah Port, the Coastal Communities residential districts, the Haramain Railway district and the Industrial Valley.

KAEC is being developed by Emaar, The Economic City, a publicly listed Saudi joint-stock company established in 2006.

Of the contracts awarded, 30 per cent of them were for developments in the Industrial Valley and another 40 per cent were for residential developments, said a statement from the Saudi company.

The announced deals do not include contracts and agreements with companies that have investments in KAEC. About 88 per cent of these agreements have been signed with Saudi-based companies, said a top official.

Qutub and Nawar signing the contract

Qutub and Nawar signing the contract

“KAEC is continuing to grow and our development plan remains firmly on track,” remarked Fahd Al Rasheed, the group chief executive and managing director of KAEC.

“Our status as a privately-funded development has been an important factor in our performance and our strong cash position has allowed us to continue to invest steadily across our activities toward achieving KAEC sustainable development,” he stated.

Al Rasheed pointed out that the value of projects under implementation in KAEC was worth over SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) and does not include the implementation of contracts in the King Abdullah Port and the industrial and commercial companies’ investments in the city.

KAEC has registered more than 2,700 vendors to work on the development of the city since 2007 and most of the vendors are national companies and organisations, he added.

 

KEY RESIDENTIAL PLOTS

The economic zone on Saudi Arabia›s Red Sea coast, will start handing over the single family residential land plots in Phase Three of the Al Talah Gardens district following completion of the infrastructure work at the development.

The Al Talah Gardens District is being developed as a world-class residential community in five phases. Phases One and Two have been handed over already and Phases Four and Five are nearing completion and will be ready before the contractual handover dates, said the statement from KAEC.

Al Talah Gardens Phase Three was designed by one of the world’s top masterplanning and architectural firms, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM,) in cooperation with Buro Happold Engineering and Moriyama & Teshima Architects.

Spread over 613,300 sq m Al Talah Gardens Phase Three comprises 692 residential single family plots, the majority of which range from 400 to 600 sq m.

Al Rasheed said: “This is a clear indication of the fast progress of all the projects at KAEC and reaffirms our commitment to providing exceptional service before and after sales to buyers of residential land plots and properties.”

Charles Biele, the CEO of the Real Estate Development Company (Redco) in KAEC, said this was a showcase for Saudi excellence in construction work.

The completion of the infrastructure work for Al Talah Gardens ahead of schedule without any compromise in the international standards is a reason to celebrate, he stated.

The infrastructure facilities include potable water, electricity and telecom networks, sewer system, irrigation for the extensive green areas of Al Talah Gardens, storm water drainage, and roads and walkways.

 

LOGISTICS SERVICE CENTRE

Petromin, the Saudi lubricants giant and the official Nissan Motors dealer in the kingdom, will build a major logistics service centre for Nissan vehicles in KAEC, just north of Jeddah.

According to the deal signed by the two sides just before the start of the New Year, Petromin  will lease 193,917 sq m of land in the Industrial Valley of KAEC to build the logistics service centre.

“King Abdullah Economic City’s efforts are focused on boosting the competitiveness of the Industrial Valley as a regional manufacturing and logistics hub,” stated Al Rasheed, as he welcomed the company into the city and the Industrial Valley.

“The unrivalled quality of our infrastructure, along with the continual reviews and enhancements of procedures and facilities presented to investors, are sure to attract national and global manufacturing and logistics giants, which, in turn, will give us further impetus to press on with achieving the strategic vision the government has set forth for this modern city.”

Petromin is one of the kingdom’s leading producers of automotive lubricants and automotive service providers. The company is active in five major sectors: the mass production and retail sales of automotive and industrial lubricants; Petromin Express, the company’s quick automotive service arm; automotive maintenance and repair; retail sales of automotive fuels through the company’s gas stations; and automotive retail.

Samir Nawar, chief executive officer of Petromin, underlined the importance of the two sides working together as a team and building robust relations that bode well for the performance and investments of both.

“This is why we have long-term investment in King Abdullah Economic City at the very top of our priorities,” he said. “There are so many favourable aspects that make the Industrial Valley the perfect place for us to expand our investments, including the city’s strategic location, the commencement of operations at the hugely capable King Abdullah Port, and the sheer ease of doing business thanks to the record time in obtaining the necessary permits and licensing from the Economic Cities Authority.”

With more than 600 service centres throughout the kingdom, Petromin Express is the kingdom’s biggest provider of quick automotive services. The company is the world’s eighth biggest automotive service network.

Petromin’s operations in the kingdom date back to 1968, when it started production of high-quality oils. The company now has more than 4,000 employees, and exports its products to over 35 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, including all of the five other GCC member states.

Expressing his happiness with the new partnership, Rayan Qutub, CEO of the Industrial Valley, said that the deal reflects the growing demand for space in the Industrial Valley from major national corporations and adds significant value to the automotive sector.

“The automotive sector, which includes vehicle dealers, distributors, spare parts suppliers, commercial vehicle assembly corporations and lubricants manufacturers, is a runaway success in the Industrial Valley,” he said. “It is a natural outcome that the Industrial Valley is developing as the primary base of operations for this sector, thanks to the Industrial Valley’s strategic location on the coast of the Red Sea, its logistical access, the upcoming re-export zone, and the opening of the roll-on/roll-off pier at King Abdullah Port.”