BFH Financial Centre 10% complete and on schedule

by Rhys Jones

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BFH’s Financial Centre is now 10% complete.
Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) has announced that around 10% of the first phase of the project - the Financial Centre - comprising Dual Towers, Financial Mall and Harbour House has been completed. The construction of the Financial Centre was awarded to the UAE-based Al Hamad Development and Construction Company.

The Financial Centre includes the Dual Towers, which are designed to accommodate financial services institutions, investment banks, offshore banking units and investment funds. The Financial Centre also includes the Financial Mall, which will house Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), commercial companies and brokerage firms, while the Harbour House will be allocated for specialised media enterprises and other entities which support financial and investment projects.

“Currently, there are over 300 workers and employees on site and 33% of them are Bahraini nationals. Additionally, eight Bahraini firms have been subcontracted and involved in this phase of the development,” said Esam Janahi, chairman, Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding Company.

The cost of the Financial Centre is expected to reach around US $250 million, of which $100 million has already been raised through private placement, with the remaining $150 million being financed and structured by the Bahrain-based Liquidity Management Centre (LMC).

“During the next three weeks or so, foundation work for the Harbour House will commence. Recently, piling work for the Dual Towers was completed while the foundation work should be completed in the coming weeks,” said Ahmed Janahi, managing director, Ahmed Janahi Architects (AJA), the lead consultants to the BFH project.

“The overall progress of the structural works on the Dual Towers and Financial Mall is advancing well and in accordance with the project schedule,” he added.

The Financial Centre is set to be complete by the end of 2006 and around 35% of the leasable area in the Financial Centre has already been booked. BFH has structured its freehold sale and lease options around an ownership system, called ‘strata title’ ownership, one of the first countries in the Gulf to use this new system.

The ‘strata title’ approach involves the individual issue of seperate titles for common property that is then managed by a committee of unit owners, who are known as a ‘Body Corporate’ group.

http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=13019&category=construction

More detials on another huge project in the middle east

thanks trances, i forgot to post this, but i can tell you that the project is in full speed and it's rising very fast, I actually just passed by it while goin to work. I'll take pictures on my digital camera before i leave next week and I'll post them here. I can tell you also it's 35% occupied already, that is the 1st phase which is pretty good.

you mean there are people working in the offices already

I dont think so.. I saw it over the weekend.. the 10% that's done is the land reclaminatin or whatever...

oh sorry mis under stood what you said above then

no i meant the 35% of the leasable office space. The 10% is the first phase, and its the twin towers, the financial mall and the harbour house piling is in 2 weeks. The twin towers are the ones where most of the work has been done (10% that is), and the second phase reclamation is well under way for the $200 million international insurance center. I'll post more later.

looking forward to it as now i am no longer based in dubai am paying more attention to the area as whole instead of focus in the emirates

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The $250 million (BD94.5 million) first phase of the Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) will be completed ahead of schedule, say contractors.

Sharjah-based Al Hamad Contracting Company has also reiterated its commitment to invest in more real estate development projects in Bahrain.

Chairman Nashat Sahawneh visited Bahrain to review progress of the BFH work.

Meanwhile, journalists from Bahrain were visiting the UAE to see Al Hamad's projects under construction at Dubai Marina, the hi-tech designs being developed at the headquarters in Sharjah and the carpentry, joinery and precast concrete factories in Ajman.

'Though we have projects valued at $3 billion (BD1.13 billion), including three of the 40 multi-storey towers of the Jumairah Beach Residence, we are giving special attention to the Bahrain project by adopting the most advanced building technology now available in the world,' said general manager-contracting Thamin Fakhoury.

'These include the post-tension technology which enhances the performance of the concrete.

'Currently, about 500 people are working on the project and it may increase to more than 1,000 during peak time.'

The total estimated project value for phase one, the Financial Centre, is $250 million.

It includes the development of the Dual Towers, Financial Mall and Harbour House.

'Though the completion date set for the projects was March 2007, we are confident that it would be completed ahead of schedule by end 2006,' said Fakhoury.

The Financial Mall work has reached the third-floor level and the eight-floor structure is scheduled for completion by February next year.

Ten per cent work on the Dual Towers have been completed.

'Foundation work is over and now we are casting slabs,' said Fakhoury.

Work on the Harbour House is still in the initial stages.

General manager-administration and finance Ezzat Sahawneh said the company was committed to the training and development of Bahraini engineers.

'Six Bahraini engineers have completed a four-month training in the UAE and are currently working on the BFH site,' he added.

'We are ready to train more Bahraini engineers if they are willing to be associated with this prestigious and challenging job.'

Sahawneh said BFH was one of the biggest projects undertaken by Al Hamad, which employs 7,000 people and has considerable years of experience in building high-rise state- of-the-art towers in the UAE.

Al Hamad has already appointed eight Bahraini sub-contracting firms which are now working on the site in Manama.

'As a Gulf-based company with an international affiliation, we are very excited at having the chance to work on such a high-profile global landmark development,' he added.

'Al Hamad is now seriously studying plans to make more investments in Bahrain.

'We shall be associated with the proposed Marriott Apartm-ents development in Bahrain and will be bidding for the second phase development of BFH.

Sahawney said Al Hamad was getting the whole-hearted support of the BFH team headed by chairman Esam Janahi, as well as the Bahrain government.

'We are also very happy with the investment regulations in Bahrain which encourage foreign companies to make investments in the Kingdom without any hesitation,' he added.

oh good to have a construction photo

I have some, I have 2 since the 3 others got deleted by mistake, but when am back in bahrain, I'll take some more. I'll upload those 2 pics later today.

here are the pics, I hope they work:

Reclamation of the second phase, the sea is crystal clear at the site:

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Section of phase one

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View from outside the site in a nearby carpark

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