Gulf Construction Online - Resorts, commercial complexes on way

Oman

Artist's impression of the hotel resort at Hayut Beach in Khasab, Musandam.

Resorts, commercial complexes on way

01 March 2005

Designs for a new hotel resort and a new Ministry of Interior building are among the major projects taking shape on the drawing boards of Kadri Consultants.

Tenders for the new Ministry of Interior complex will be issued this month (March), says Mustafa Behlim, director of Kadri Consultants. The project involves the demolition of an existing building and the construction of a ground-plus-four-storey complex offering a total built-up area of 13,000 sq m.
The hotel resort at Hayut Beach in Khasab, Musandam, is being set up by an Italian group and will comprise a series of chalets built over a terraced area. The project is currently in the design stage and tenders for the first phase –including a total of 100 rooms – will be issued at the end of this year for completion in 18 months, says Behlim. Also envisaged is a second phase of development which will add a further 100 rooms to the facility.
Other projects that Kadri Consultants is involved with include the Zubair Headquarters and a Volvo predelivery inspection centre for Saud Bahwan.
Kadri Consultants is a leading architectural practice that has been designing projects for Oman over the past 21 years and comes with the backing of experience from its parent company, which has been active for the past four decades in India.
Commenting on the Omani construction market, Behlim says: “The construction sector of Oman is picking up with a number of infrastructure projects coming up including roads and sewerage as well as industrial facilities at Sohar.
“The government is now spending and property prices are going up. However, the rents are still low and people are holding back (investment) because of the rate of return. Once the Southern Expressway is completed, there should be a surge in construction.”
On the problems encountered by the sector, he says: “Contractors have suffered because of the escalating costs of construction materials over the past year and only few are in a good shape financially. There is a shortage of contractors in the medium league – those that can handle projects worth RO0.5 million to 1.0 million.”
Kadri Consultants has recently seen the completion of two major residential projects while a further two are under design. It has also designed private villas for the Assarain group, a 17-villa complex at Athaiba beach, two buildings at Athaiba; and a series of showrooms for Suhail Bahwan Group in Buraimi, Sohar and Sur, following the group’s recent appointment as agent for BMW and Nissan.