Dubai-based diversified business house Al Ghurair Giga Group is investing Dh2 billion ($550 million) in a residential development in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Haji Mohammad Rafiq, chairman of Goldcrest, told Gulf News yesterday, "Our total investment in the project could be in excess of Dh2 billion."
The project involves 15 high-rise towers, each having 30 floors, and an additional 20 towers each 10 storeys high, spread across a 40-acre plot in a posh Islamabad neighbourhood, masterplanned by the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).
The project, Goldcrest DHA Islamabad, will be built in Phase II of the DHA and will have 4,500 residential units which are currently being offered on 99-year leases.
The group has three towers under development in Dubai with a combined investment of Dh1.05 billion. Construction of Goldcrest Views 1 and 2 are progressing and construction of Goldcrest Executive Views 3, a residential and commercial project, is set to start next month.
While Goldcrest Views 1 is solely owned by Al Ghurair Giga group, Goldcrest Views 2 and 3 are being jointly developed by Al Ghurair Giga and another Dubai-based business house, ETA-Ascon Group.
The Al Ghurair Group has stakes in both joint ventures. The Al Ghurair Group's partners in the ETA-Ascon Group are non-resident Indians, while its joint venture partners in Al Ghurair Giga are from Pakistan.
A construction contract for Goldcrest Views 1 has been awarded to a local-South African joint venture Al Habtoor Engineering-Murray and Roberts, and construction contracts for the other two towers have been awarded to Ascon Construction, a sister concern of ETA-Ascon Group.
Al Ghurair Giga has also purchased five residential towers in Ajman from the Ajman government, currently being offered on a freehold sale to buyers.
The Goldcrest DHA Islamabad project was launched on June 4 at a high-profile event.
Construction of the project, a 50:50 joint venture between Dubai's Al Ghurair Group and Pakistan's Giga Group, will start this year, with completion set for 2008, officials said.
Aamir Haji Ameen, director of the company, said his company is currently talking to a select group of contractors to award the construction contract.
"We have prequalified five leading contractors and will award the contracts in a few months time. However, the approach is to divide the work among them.
"We have local as well as Chinese and Malaysian contractors among the pre-qualified bidders."
It is currentlypromoting the sale in the UAE.
"We have sold more than 2,400 units and plan to sell the rest in a few months time. Sales are simultaneously going on in the US, Europe, Saudi Arabia and the UAE."
