Assaudia Real Estate Development Company, the real estate and property development arm of Saudi-based business conglomerate Omar K. Alesayi Group (OKAG), announced today the winners of its Affordable Housing Competition, a design competition to produce concepts for the one million Sq. mt.- housing project in Jeddah.
The reception was attended by Deputy Mayor of Jeddah for Services Eng. Khalid Aqeel together with Jeddah’s leaders in design, architecture and housing, in addition to representatives from the 6 participating firms from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the United States.
“This is a unique project in Jeddah, which complements the on-going drive of providing affordable housing solutions to Jeddah’s medium-income citizens,” said Eng. Khalid Aqeel, Deputy Mayor of Jeddah for Services. “It reflects the strategic vision of the Jeddah Municipality to bolster the Private sector’s role in the architectural development of the city; which comes in unison with the social vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to provide homes for all income levels of our citizens.
Aidaroos Abdullah Albar, Executive Manager of Assaudia Real Estate Development commented: “Omar K. Alesayi Group was keen to ensure that both the design and development of the project resulted in an exceptional concept for affordable housing in the future. We are excited by the designs we received and feel that both their innovative design and environmental approach will provide an example of how affordable housing can be attractive, imaginative and built within a tight budget”.
The winners awards were distributed by Eng. Aqeel to the three winners in the following consequence:
1. First Prize : Dr. M. Yousry & Associates, Cairo, Egypt;
2. Second Prize : The Environmental Consulting Bureau (ECB), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
3. Third Prize : Erga Group - Architects and Consulting Engineers, Beirut, Lebanon .
Dr. Mahmoud Yousry and Associates, first prize winner, is considered one of the leading real estate developers with over 40 years of architectural reputation in Egypt and the region. The firm’ portfolio includes state-of-the-art projects such as El-Rehab City-Heliopolis, Reviera-Nema Gulf, Green Land Paradise Project, Sofitel Village, in addition to their role in the development of the Jeddah Corniche.
The competition closed on 20 January, 2007, with six designs submitted by leading local and international architectural firms for the USD 1.3 billion project in Jeddah. Located in Sharm Obhur on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah, the plot of land will be transferred into a neighbourhood of apartments, condominiums, small villas, recreational areas, medical centres and commercial zones.
The Affordable Housing project will have a range of home options, over than 50 per cent of which will be earmarked as “affordable.” Some of the homes will also be owned by families with gross income between 25 to 50 per cent of the area’s average income of SAR 8,000 to SAR 20,000 per month for a family of four.
About ASSAUDIA Real Estate Development Company:
A wholly owned subsidiary of the Omar K. Al Esayi Group (OKAG) and member of Al Esayi Real Estate division, ASSAUDIA Real Estate Development was established in 1994 to offer real estate asset development services to property owners, investors and developers and provides a range of specialist consultancy services in real estate and business development in the following areas:
– Investment strategies
– Portfolio management
– Development services
– Marketing and leasing services
Long before its establishment, Assaudia was a department within Aqarat Company, another member of Al Esayi’s Real Estate Division, providing specialized development services to the Group as well as to third parties.
Since its establishment, Assaudia has executed the following projects in Jeddah:
• Buyut Al Manar (housing development -90 villas);
• Eastern Homes –Buyut Asharq (housing development -232 villas);
• Waziriah Buildings (housing development -40 Appartment units);
• South Corniche (2,650,000 square meters land development project);
• Al Buhairat (a SR 11m evaluation project commissioned by NCB)
