08 Apr 2018 – 9:38
By Sachin Kumar | The Peninsula
DOHA: The Pearl-Qatar has seen a sharp rise of 42 percent in the last three years in the number of residents helped by several new projects and continuous investments pumped by its master developer — United Development Company (UDC). The number of residents in The Pearl-Qatar has jumped from 19,000 in 2015 to 27,000 in 2017.
“The population of Pearl Qatar is around 27,000. So there is lot of potential still there. I see it is as a very positive sign that we still have a distance to walk. We continue to see villas and towers to get completed, so we are optimistic that this number will continue to grow,” Ibrahim Al Othman, President and Chief Executive Officer of UDC, told The Peninsula.
UDC is working on major developments that will accelerate the growth and maturity of The Pearl-Qatar in the near term. The company commenced Giardino Villas project in 2017 and it is expected to be completed by 2018.
The construction works for the first phase of Al Mutahidah Towers has been completed, and the company has already started selling out the apartments and retail spaces at the iconic towers. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2019. The Floresta Gardens, a residential and commercial development project, is currently in the design phase.
“We have overcome the difficult time. The last two years, 2016 and 2017, were not not easy. However, we did well, relatively speaking. We have our plans, we are going very ambitious and we are continuing to develop and add to our reserves in terms of units or plots. We know where we are heading,”said Al Othman.
The new projects will also attract renowned brands across the globe. UDC is also expected to announce a new island project this month that will span over 300,000 square metres and will accommodate around 6,000 residents. The company also plans to invest around QR5.5bn over the next five years in its various projects.
According to UDC it will be a state-of-the-art new island project and will be an extension of The Pearl-Qatar. It is being designed to have an aquarium-style waterpark, an air-conditioned outdoor boardwalk, a green park and a waterfront retail esplanade that will attract brands to Doha.
The Pearl Qatar is an artificial island spread across nearly 4msqm. Some of the major residential and commercial developments in the man-made island include Porto Arabia, Viva Bahriya Towers, Qanat Quartier, Abraj Quartier, Medina Centrale among others.
In addition, there are a lot of commercial establishments, retail space and world-class amenities, including beach resorts, restaurants, showrooms, meeting halls and entertainment facilities and others.
