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AKMC and Durrat Al Riyadh Real Estate Development sign SR350-500m hotel deal

JEDDAH — Al Khozama Management Company (AKMC) and Durrat Al Riyadh Real Estate Development Company have signed a hotel deal estimated to be between SR350 million and SR500 million for the management and operation of the first five-star hotel to be built just outside the capital.

The hotel, to be built in Durrat Al Riyadh, will be on a 25,000 square metre area, and include 40 villas, 150 bedrooms, swimming pools and sports arenas. Since the hotel is located 25 kms outside the boundaries of the capital, temperature in the area is 4 degrees cooler than the inner city. It would be the ideal spot for a spa experience, conferences or meetings.

Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled, chairman of AKMC; Hamza Attas, general manager of Durrat Al Riyadh; and Musaed Al Saeed, CEO of AKMC, were present during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Prince Bandar said that this was not the first or the last project to be announced by AKMC. Future hotel projects by Al Khozama will be announced in the near future in Jeddah and other cities in the Kingdom.”This is the first hotel project to be established in a resort. In the future, AKMC will announce projects in areas not related to real estate in a bid to diversify our business,” he added.

AKMC is having discussions with the French company Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, for management and licence agreements. A group of local companies are currently giving final touches to the hotel’s design. The hotel is expected to be ready by 2011.

Prince Bandar said he had chosen the location of Durrat Al Riyadh to build the hotel outside of the capital’s boundaries, after seeing the potential of the location.

Unlike the famous Durrat Al Aroos located in Jeddah, the project is not a resort and neither does it require a one-hour-drive from the main city limits. It is a suburb located within a 20-minute-drive from the centre of Riyadh. The idea, according to its chief engineer, is simple—to provide a closed community suburb in the capital where people could enjoy everything they need, all in one place.