Piling work at Raffles City Bahrain, the kingdom’s largest private sector waterfront development, is about 60 per cent complete.

“Tenders for the main construction contract are expected within the next quarter,” says Wong Heang Fine, CEO of CapitaLand GCC Holdings. Construction on the retail area will start first, followed by villas, serviced apartment and tower blocks respectively.
The project has been proofed against the current crunch in building materials, as CapitaLand has been permitted to procure building materials from overseas.
“Given the fact that we operate in 20 countries and 130 cities, we can leverage our global presence to source materials,” he says.
Fine’s comments came at last month’s Cityscape Dubai, where CapitaLand launched sales of residential apartments in the $800 million project.
Raffles City Bahrain will comprise three residential towers, landscaped sky villas, high-end retail outlets and food and beverage facilities, as well as five-star serviced residences. The architectural concept was conceived by the renowned international architect Rafael Viٌoly, and is inspired by the intrinsic geometry of the bay and the sea.
The three towers form the backdrop of the integrated development and rise above a 92,000 sq m luxury retail mall. There are a total of 12 two-storey penthouses and over 600 luxury high-rise and terraced apartments. Below these sit the 50 terraced sky villa residences. The project is due for phased completion from the fourth quarter of 2010.
Raffles City Bahrain is CapitaLand’s first integrated development in the GCC and its first Raffles City development outside Asia.
CapitaLand’s other significant project in the region – Arzanah in Abu Dhabi – is also on track, says Fine.
Rihan Heights, the first phase of this $5-6 billion project, consists of five residential towers with 854 apartments and 14 exclusive villas. Arzanah is being developed by Capitala, the joint venture between Mubadala and CapitaLand.
Construction is on track, with the piling actually completed one month ahead of schedule in mid-September this year.
“We have just appointed the main construction contract for Rihan Heights,” says Fine. “This S$500 million contract was awarded to the joint venture partnership between Sunway Construction and Silver Coast Construction and Boring. We expect the project to be completed on schedule with handover of units in the first quarter of 2011.”