Construction work on Omagine, a $2.5-billion mixed-use tourism and real estate project to be developed on a 1-million-sq-m beachfront area in Oman, will begin next year and is due for completion by 2024, said a report.

Located in Seeb, the project boasts seven pearl-shaped buildings which will host hotels, offices, residences and entertainment venues, reported Times of Oman.

The Omagine Project is being developed by Omagine, a subsidiary of the US-based Omagine Inc, with Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCIC), CCC-Oman and Royal Court Affairs (RCA) as shareholders. 

The project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs for nationals when it is completed in seven year’s time, it stated.

The slump in global oil prices has meant project managers have been seeking further funding globally, said the report citing Omagine chairman Frank J Drohan.

"We are in advanced discussions with several institutional and private entities in the US, Europe and China to finance the project as a quite rational response to the present regional banking environment," he revealed.

Drohan pointed out that the longer term project finance will be needed only after the detailed masterplanning and architectural design gets completed.

“And that is the reason we are working hard on many fronts with Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and other investors in Oman and the GCC, Europe, the US and China to make that happen,” he said.

Drohan said CCC may still be the general contractor for the Omagine Project with a US, European or China-based firm working as a substantial sub-contractor under CCC Oman.

Once completed, the mammoth project will have three hotels (which will include serviced apartments and chalets), a boutique mall, an open air amphitheatre, exhibition venues, a harbour and marina area, offices besides more than 2,000 residences and a large number of cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues.

The Omagine Project will have seven pearl-shaped buildings, each with a different theme, such as the Oman Pearl, Innovation Pearl, Energy Pearl, Culture Pearl and Earth, Sea and Sky Pearls, stated Drohan.

The Pearls will feature a wide range of tourism experiences, simulations, games, interactive demonstrations, multi-media presentations and a planetarium and a multiplex, he added.