Mace captures Bahrain contract worth $450 million

Yet more news from Bahrain, which seems determined to out-develop Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  First Bahrain Real Estate Development (First Bahrain) - a leading regional real estate developer with a paid-up capital of $113 million yesterday announced the appointment of global consultants Mace to project manage its signature $450 million development, located in the heart of Bahrain's Seef District.

Mace will be responsible for managing construction planning, project schedules, operational and construction issues and procurement strategy.

The announcement coincides with the recent appointment of an international architectural firm to master-plan the 21,000 square meter investment property development which will feature a hospitality complex including a Sharia'a-compliant five star hotel and serviced apartments along with office and residential towers.

Amin A. Al Arrayed, General Manager of First Bahrain said:  "A development as large as our Seef project needs to be carefully managed. Working with the best people is paramount to success and we believe that Mace is the right partner with a level of understanding and experience to bring the development to fruition. We now have a team in place that can deliver a world class facility. Our next step will be to work alongside them on the appointment of the lead contractors and subcontractors."

The award-winning Mace Group has been responsible for some of the world's most iconic buildings in recent times including Venetian Macau, the London Eye, the British Museum and Singapore Sands. Mace also recently earned the prestigious accolades of having six of its projects achieve International Safety Awards in 2007 and of being chosen as the 2008 UK Project / Construction Managers of the Year.

Andrew Johnson, Director of Mace in Bahrain said: "Mace is delighted to work alongside First Bahrain in the realization of its vision. The Seef development is one of the most pioneering and innovative developments in the Kingdom and we look forward to successfully working with First Bahrain over the next three years to ensure the on-time completion of the project."

First Bahrain, whose principal shareholders are leading and regional institutions including Global Investment House, will be the primary developer for approximately 30 per cent of the prestigious project, focusing predominantly on the hospitality components.

But some doubt has recently been thrown onto the alleged value and practicality of some of the recently announced projects. Sultan Al Qassimi at “The Naked Truth,” has some scathing words about the lack of government supervision which apparently allows companies such as Tameer to make announcements about new projects that clearly stretch the truth a little.

There is something to be said about the lack of government supervision that extends from allowing firms to issue press releases that are clearly stretching the truth to broken promises that start from delivering these real estate projects late or never, to jeopardizing the reputation of the UAE by mistreating foreign labour.

The full post is here.

We ourselves have wondered at the seemingly endless amount of new developments, but had not been aware to what extent the truth was being stretched. He is definitely worth reading.