Lifestyle designs of the future

GULF Holding Company (GHC) is stamping its signature on the island with two large-scale real estate developments – Villamar @ the Harbour at the Bahrain Financial Harbour and Downtown Al Areen at the Al Areen development. 

They are part of a ‘Signature Series’ of investments totalling $1.25 billion and help fulfil the company’s ambition to offer cutting-edge real estate investment products and services.

Validating its reputation as one of the foremost waterfront residential developments in the region, $650-million Villamar @ the Harbour, was awarded the ‘Best Project Real Estate of the Year’ honour at the recent Arabian Business Awards 2008, organised by the Dubai-based ITP Publishing Group.

Ahmed Al Ameer, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of GHC, described the accolade as “an honour”, adding: “The award assumes greater significance as Villamar @ the Harbour is GHC’s very first project and we are still a very young holding company, having completed a little over two years of operations. Additionally, it is an endorsement of GHC’s business model in the form of the ‘Signature Series’, which is focused on creating highly differentiated, smart and rewarding product offerings.”

The award came at a time when GHC was planning both expansion and diversification.

The judges said Villamar @ the Harbour had been successfully positioned as a project “that serves the future vision of Bahrain and also the new expression of lifestyle”.

“It features inimitable lifestyle and also dramatically juxtaposes between natural and man-made forms,” the spokesman added.

Villamar @ the Harbour is being built on an island in the heart of the business district of Manama.

The development offers one to five-bedroom apartments, villas and penthouses, with features like a rooftop chairman’s club, health club and spa, swimming pools, tennis courts and other recreational amenities. The Ocean-Front Boardwalk, featuring indoor and outdoor cafes, restaurants and boutique retail spaces with shaded and air-cooled walkways are the major attraction of this project.

The development’s five design elements – the Twisting Towers, Lifestyle Apartments, Terrace Podium, Sky Villas and Terraced Villas – strive to take advantage of the natural elements like the ocean, breeze and views to the horizon.

The Twisting Towers comprise three gently twisting towers which have blue-green tinted glass – reflecting the natural colours of the Bahrain Bay. These iconic glass towers range in height from 137 meters to 220 meters.

The Lifestyle Apartments are in a three-storey horizontal building which provides luxurious residential units and define the southern perimeter of the project.

The Terraced Podium is conceived as a series of landscaped terraces which are privately enclosed offering panoramic views with a play area, large landscaped terrace pool, various access paths to the oceanfront boardwalk, indoor and outdoor restaurants and cafes, boutique retail outlets and ample parking for residents and visitors cars.

The Sky Villas will be essentially apartments which appear to float above the ground at a six-storey height. They will feature three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments in addition to penthouses.

Sky Villas offer a spectacular and unobstructed view of the sea to the residents. They are supported by their own elevator towers and feature double-height living spaces, balconies and terraces with superb views of the boardwalk.

Each unit also boasts its own private backyard. The building’s porous edge will allow sea breeze to permeate through the site.

The Terraced Villas, the multi-storey exclusive villas, can be accessed by using a private driveway. Each villa will have parking space directly under the unit with three and four-bedroom apartments featuring exclusive and private landscaped roof terrace and swimming pools.

The development’s innovative features and design have attracted both investors and end-users. Significantly, Phase I of the development has been completely sold out and Phase II has been released for sale.

Villamar @ the Harbour will be a 35,900 square metre district of luxury, uniqueness and distinctiveness that targets to serve the “future vision of Bahrain” and to be the new expression of lifestyle criteria that can be obtained and enjoyed, the spokesman added.

It is scheduled for completion in early 2010.

Featuring the most splendid engineering and architectural designs, Villamar @ the Harbour will have one to five-bedroom apartments. Facilities include a rooftop Chairman’s Club, health club and spa, swimming pools and other recreational amenities.

The ocean-front Boardwalk will be a major public attraction, featuring indoor and outdoor cafes, restaurants and boutique retail spaces with shaded and air-cooled walkways, water features, significant on-site car park and landscaped plazas.

Downtown Al Areen is also a much talked development which is expected to galvanise the tourism appeal and attract a wider range of visitors to the country and the region.

With a total investment of $550 million, the Downtown project covers an area of 260,000 square metres and will include a ‘Town Square’, the first of its kind in the region, in addition to a school, recreational facilities and retail outlets which covers almost 43,000 square meters.

Downtown Al Areen includes seven main components namely, Boulevard North , Boulevard South, High Street, Old Town, The Boardwalk, Park Lane and the Esplanade. They will be ready on phases, Phase I and II is expected to be ready by the end of next December, Phase III, IV and the final Phase V  by the end of December, 2010.

Having successfully sold out Phase I of Boulevard North, which forms a significant component of its signature project ‘Downtown Al Areen’, for $26 million, GHC last month announced that it had also successfully completed the entire Phase II sale of Boulevard North within a week of completion of the Phase I sale.

Comprising three five storey residential towers Boulevard North Phase II was sold out for a total financial consideration of $39 million, taking the entire sale value of Phase I and II to $65 million.

Mr Al Ameer said: “The successful completion of Phase I and II Boulevard North sales, comprising of five residential towers within a week is indeed a great achievement. Even more important is the price of $65 million that we have managed to sell these phases for as it once again re-enforces the high investment grade of this project.

“Significantly, this sale which closely follows the recently concluded Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix also further validates the high investor confidence in Bahrain’s real estate sector at a time when global property markets are yet to recover from the sub-prime crisis.”

Without doubt Downtown Al Areen is to Bahrain what Champs-Elysees is to France or the Spanish Steps are to Rome, the company says. Furthermore, apart from being a compelling investment proposition that will offer investors and shareholders returns on a sustained and long-term basis, it promises to be “a development abounding in exclusivity, security and serenity”.