Yasser promises to deliver

Yasser Abdulrahman Al Raee is a man on a mission ... to oversee the completion of Riffa Views and deliver on a promise of 'living the Bahrain dream' to its homeowners, despite a series of setbacks.

The project that has been touted as one of the kingdom's premier residential addresses in Bahrain has once again pushed back its completion date.

However, despite repeated delays, management shake-ups, cement delivery dilemmas, site-worker unrest and the economic crisis the current management remains confident.

Whereas some of the projects around the region have stalled due to the economic downturn, Riffa Views renegotiated building agreements with its contractors and are pushing to complete the buildings and handover all villas on its two estates - Lagoons and Oasis built on the periphery of the Colin Montgomerie 18-hole golf course - by the end of this year.

The Park Estate's completion is scheduled for mid-2011. The cost of the entire project has now increased to BD320 million.

Mr Al Raee, managing director of Riffa Views, said: "We are confident that we will achieve our goal of overall project completion by mid-2011.

"At present we are in the advanced stage of infrastructure completion and are handing over villas - an average of 60 per month - on a daily basis. Our current focus is to make up for the time lost due to a combination of factors in the past.

"Just when we thought that we had overcome the material shortage of summer 2008, the global economic crisis kicked in. Some of our buyers defaulted on their payment plan while others held on to their payments because they saw a delay in their villa handover."

The current management team at Riffa Views is steered by Arcapita - the major player in the residential project. Mr Al Raee has been with Arcapita for six years and oversees the company's real estate investments in the region. In fact, he is drawing from his experience of managing developments - a similar residential golfing community, Victory Heights, is near completion in Dubai - and is employing 'best management practices' at the project.

"Arcapita's role has always been to oversee the project as Riffa Views is part of its worldwide investment portfolio. We have always been behind the scenes lending support to previous management teams. But, given the recent challenges and as the main sponsor of the project, we decided to take the initiative to step in and provide assurance to our homeowners and restore their confidence that the development is moving forward."

Mr Al Raee is frequently seen inspecting the ongoing construction work around the completed villas. Some disgruntled homeowners complain that even after several months of residing at the development it still seems like a dusty construction site with no common green areas for children to play in.

But Mr Al Raee's message to the growing community of Riffa Views, and to the homeowners still waiting for the delivery of their villas, is that the situation will only improve in the months to come.

"We are trying to rectify past mistakes and move on. There are challenges out there and we are focusing on overcoming them. Our new delivery date is the final date and to realise our promise to our buyers we are working single-mindedly with our contractors.

"We have stopped our selling activities for the moment and are focusing on the 800 villas that we have already sold. We have created a strengthened customer care team that is focusing solely on dealing with home owners' issues and villa deliveries."

Mr Al Raee is also one of the homeowners at the Riffa Views residential estate. At present he lives in Riffa with his wife, Rodaina, and their three boys - Abdur Rahman, an A'level student at Naseem International School, Mohammad, a ninth grade student at Naseem International School and Hamad, a fifth grader at Riffa Views International School.

"I will be the last to move. I want to ensure that every single homeowner is handed their villa before I settle in my new home at Riffa Views."