KING Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) has awarded a SR313-million ($83.4 million) contract to Rezaik Al Jedrawi Company for the construction of the first phase of Al Waha residential community in the economic city located at Thuwal, 100 km north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Phase One of Al Waha, comprising 650 units offering both single and multi-family housing solutions, will cover an area of 180,000 sq m.

The sales and pre-leasing will start in 2014, while the customer handover is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2015, said Fahd Al Rasheed, the managing director and CEO.

“We have planned the scope of residential accommodation at KAEC to cover all income levels and Al Waha is among the first communities within the facility addressing the need for middle-income housing,” said Al Rasheed.

“It is an innovative concept comprising several distinct villages,” he added.

One of the largest and most important private sector initiatives in the Middle East, KAEC encompasses a total area of 168 million sq m along the coast of the Red Sea.