Barwa Village now a thriving community

By Sarmad Qazi

HE Sheikh Abdurrahman bin Khalifa al-Thani at the inaugural ceremony yesterday, flanked by Ghanim bin Saad al-Saad and Yousif al-Khater

The 400,000sqm Barwa Village was officially inaugurated yesterday, almost a year after the QR1.6bn mixed-use project started receiving tenants.
The Village, off Wakrah Highway, was inaugurated by Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning HE Sheikh Abdurrahman bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The event was attended by senior company officials, construction industry leaders and project stakeholders, including Barwa chairman Ghanim bin Saad al-Saad, Group CEO Yousif al-Khater and Public Works Authority president Nasser al-Mawlawi.  

A View of Barwa Village

Now a thriving new community, Barwa Village started handing out keys to pre-screened and approved commercial tenants in March of 2010, followed by residential tenants.
The project has been built to international standards, providing a new community for residents in Doha and a new business hub for retail shops.
A total of 18 low-rise buildings offer some 1,500 residents a wide-range of apartment lifestyle options at 458 units. There are also 918 shops, a shopping mall, a school and clinic. Only the shopping mall is a storey higher, with all buildings reflecting the architectural landscape of Qatar.
"As of today, our residential occupancy has reached 96%, while commercial is 100% booked,” Barwa Village general manager Khaled al-Hitmi told Gulf Times.
Barwa has set rents for a studio apartment (48sq m) at QR2,500 a month, one-bedroom apartments (96sq m) QR3,000, and two-bedrooms apartments (1,44sq m) QR4,500. The rent for a commercial unit (84sq m) is QR10,700.
Barwa Real Estate’s Investments director Ibrahim Fakhroo said: "Barwa Village supports the vision of the parent company and its commitment to be a major partner in the urban renaissance of Qatar. The Village successfully balances the needs of the tenants with the commercial ambitions of retailers in the community.”
After commercial tenants started moving in, some traders complained the rents were high. Barwa, however, dismissed the complaints saying the traders should get used to the market realities.
"Some people still prefer to live in and do business out of properties that were more than 20 years old and pay QR2,000 for a showroom,” officials had said at the time.
When the registration started, preference was given to traders in Musheireb as their buildings were being demolished as part of urban regeneration.
Residential tenants, meanwhile, yesterday expressed satisfaction at the amenities available the Village.
"It’s fantastic. All the shops I ever need are right here. Maintenance is swift. It’s very spacious,” said a tenant of a one-bedroom unit.
Barwa Village also features a club house with gym, to be managed by Hassan al-Tamimi Company; a school for 900 students run by Shantiniketan Indian School; a  two-floor nursery, and a 4,000sq m grand plaza. The bid for the plaza was won by Centrepoint. A hypermarket, Mega Mart, is
also set to open soon, the officials said.
A 1,400sq m administrative building will have the offices of Wakrah Municipality, Kahramaa and QPost. Barwa Village is managed by Waseef.
There are no parks at the project, but at least 30% of the total project area is heavily landscaped, officials said.