At the beginning of the decade, many experts and property investors in particular, were of the opinion that you would be crazy to make a brand new 'island' and then try to sell the plots of land to high-end retail and hotel developers. All around the Middle East, developers are proving that old opinion to be completely wrong. Bahrain Bay, a development being constructed just off the Manama waterfront, recently announced that they have sold 60% of all available land plots.
A balance of retail, residential, and commercial spaces, the anchor of the project is the Four Seasons Hotel which will be the first from the luxury developer in the Kingdom. Bahrain Bay made the announcement regarding their sales-volume recently at the global property exhibition, MIPIM, which is held annually in Cannes, France. The firm's marketing teams and executive officers were at the exhibition to promote the $2.5 billion waterfront development to potential investors and other developers.
With this year's exhibition projected to draw nearly 26,000 property and investment professionals from all over the planet, Bob Vincent, the chief executive of Bahrain Bay stated, "This news confirms that international and regional developers and investors are committed to our vision of creating a new waterfront community for the rapidly developing north short of Manama, the vibrant hub of Bahrain's business district." He added, "As the economy of Bahrain grows and diversifies a new community will be created that will offer a way of living and working designed for the 21st century."
The success of both Nakheels' The World development and now Bahrain Bay have many other investors and developers thinking about sites which might be suitable for such land reclamation (island making) projects.
With a final completion date of 2010, Bahrain Bay is on schedule both as far as sales and construction.
