Construction work is set to begin shortly on Marassi Al Bahrain, a luxury waterfront development at Diyar Al Muharraq off the northern shores of Bahrain’s Muharraq island.

The premier ‘smart city’ will offer luxury homes, high-end shopping, and business, leisure and entertainment facilities. It is being developed by Eagle Hills, an Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment company and global developer of iconic city destinations, in partnership with the Bahrain-based developer Diyar Al Muharraq.

Marassi Al Bahrain will spread across a site area of 875,000 sq m on the eastern shores of the masterplanned community of Diyar Al Muharraq, forming a key luxury component of Bahrain’s largest private urban project.

Masterplanned by Aecom, the mixed-use development will on completion in five phases be home to 22,000 residents with a total of 3,500 residences and offer a total retail space of 250,000 sq m.

Work on Phase One is set to begin during Q1 2016 and be completed in 2019.  The first phase will include iconic landmarks such as a lifestyle shopping complex anchored by two luxury hotel brands (The Address Hotels + Resorts and Vida Hotels and Resorts), seafront residential apartments, a canal waterfront promenade and a community mosque, with all related roads, utilities and other infrastructure.

Marassi Al Bahrain ... smart city.

The scope of works on Phase One involves 480 high-end residential apartments offering access to the beach, luxury hotels, a 178,000-sq-m shopping mall, and a 1-km-long beach open to the public.

Commenting on the development, Dr Maher Al Shaer, CEO of Diyar Al Muharraq and managing director of Marassi Al Bahrain, says: “What makes this fully integrated community a key project within Diyar Al Muharraq is the high quality designs and engineering, and the strong international experience that Eagle Hills brings from developing advanced city hubs in Jordan, Morocco, Serbia and Nigeria. Eagle Hills has taken a holistic approach by ensuring that all Marassi Al Bahrain’s components complement each other, bringing exceptional value for its residents to work, live and play. Integrating the beach as a landmark to be enjoyed all year round will transform lifestyles in the kingdom and meet a growing demand for waterfront living.”

According to Low Ping, the CEO of Eagle Hills, the first phase of Marassi Al Bahrain assures an array of retail, food and beverage (F&B), leisure and entertainment choices for residents and visitors. The project has already received strong interest not only from the region, but also from global investors, Ping adds.

Residential and retail unit sales for the first phase are set to be launched during Q1 2016. “A public stretch of sandy beach of 300 m will open alongside a sales centre in January 2016, allowing the public to experience what the vibrant waterfront lifestyle will have to offer. In the future and upon completion, the beach will be 2 km long and accessible to general public,” says a spokesman for Eagle Hills.

Marassi will be home to 22,000 residents.

The lifestyle shopping and entertainment destination – Marassi Galleria – is being designed by London-based Grimshaw Architect, the spokesman tells Gulf Construction. It will attract the world’s leading brands – many for the first time in Bahrain – to offer a comprehensive mix of high street fashion and designer brands and boutiques, as well as provide an extensive range of entertainment and dining options with views overlooking the sea and lush green gardens.

“A leisure and shopping experience that goes beyond any traditional retail outlet, Marassi Galleria will be animated with outdoor events, high street activities, and destination dining, and will feature one of the region’s most elaborate family entertainment centres,” says the spokesman.

Expected to be completed by 2019, the development will spread over a gross floor area (GFA) of 178,000 sq m, with a leasable area (GLA) of approximately 120,000 sq m. The shopping precinct will host five interconnected lifestyle urban districts, each with a theme tailored to a specific customer demographic: the Highstreet, the Family Plaza, a Waterfront Dining Promenade, an animated rooftop and The Luxury Courtyard.

Marassi Galleria’s world-class hospitality offerings includes the adjoining The Address Marassi Al Bahrain hotel which will feature 110 rooms, including 17 suites; and the 160-room Vida Marassi Al Bahrain hotel, which will be directly linked to the shopping complex.

Marassi will be home to 22,000 residents.

Grimshaw Architect is the lead consultant of the residential component of Marassi Al Bahrain. The award-winning international practice is designing the first of such developments Marassi Residences, bringing a wealth of international best practice and innovative design to these prestigious apartments.

Early development work on Marassi Residences, which will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, was due to begin before the year-end (2015) as part of Phase One, with construction work to be completed by the third quarter of 2018.

“Marassi Al Bahrain will, undoubtedly, create a sustained revenue stream which will serve in revitalising the Bahraini economy and support the government in achieving its Vision 2030; we anticipate that it will become a key touristic destination in the GCC which will create thousands of new jobs, promote new sectors including retail, hospitality and leisure, and drive inward investments to the country,” says Mohamed Alabbar, a board member of Eagle Hills.

Eagle Hills is an Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment and development company eyeing the development of new city hubs in high-growth international markets. With a focus on developing large-scale real estate projects, the company designs and implements mixed-use facilities. These communities draw on the latest technologies to build smart and sustainable projects that add significant value to the local economy. Eagle Hills is currently developing projects in Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Serbia and Nigeria.