Barwa to start leasing its Barwa Village extension project in Q3

Barwa Real Estate will start leasing the Barwa Village extension project by third quarter of this year, according to its group CEO Salman bin Mohamed al-Mohannadi, who reiterated that the company has no plans to increase rents for its residential projects.Meanwhile, speaking at the annual general meeting of company’s shareholders at the Millennium Plaza yesterday, Barwa Real Estate chairman HE Salah bin Ghanim bin Nasser al-Ali, who is also the Minister of Culture and Sports, said other projects for 2018 include the completion of the QR1.29bn ‘Affordable Housing Development’ for labourers along Salwa Road; Phase 2 of ‘Madinat Al Mawater’, and ongoing work on the construction of Barwa Village extension project; Dara (A) in Lusail, among other projects.Once completed, al-Ali said the projects will add as many as 806 housing units, 25,360 rooms for workers, and 314,000 sq m as rental space for showrooms, warehouses, offices, and shops to the group’s operational portfolio.Also on track are ongoing work on the master plans and designs for many projects, including but not limited to, the Dara B-F project in Lusail; Barwa Al Doha project, and Lusail project and then initiating the construction.He also underscored continuing work on improving the performance efficiency of the group’s subsidiary companies, as well as ongoing work on completion of investment plans for the group’s land banks within Qatar with a total area of 5.5mn sq m.“Furthermore, the group will continue to analyse available investment opportunities in light of its business plan in order to achieve sustainable growth and ensure profitable revenues for the group’s shareholders,” al-Ali told shareholders, who approved the board’s recommendation to distribute 25% cash dividends.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, al-Mohannadi said the company “has no intention to increase rents” for its future residential projects.“We perceive ourselves not as a real estate player only; we also see ourselves as a moderator; and for a moderator role, all of us know that in real estate you can have two scenarios, either you have a crash or a soft landing,” al-Mohannadi told Gulf Times.He added, “What we are trying to orchestrate for the whole market is a soft landing scenario rather than a crash, so I don’t envisage that the coming years will have the scenario of increased rents. “I strongly believe that we are currently at the soft landing status and we believe that the rent level will continue to go down, which is good for the whole economy because the rent levels that we have witnessed earlier are way beyond reasonable.”He noted that the soft landing scenario will continue until around 2020 followed by a gradual spike in rent levels by 2021.Al-Ali said net profit last year stood at QR1.7bn with earnings per share of QR4.38, an 6% increase of QR100mn compared to 2016. The group also enhanced operating revenues by increasing net rental income by QR140mn, an 18% increase compared to 2016. Moreover, net revenue of consultancy services and other services increased by QR85mn, he said.Other significant achievements in 2017 include the completion and start of the operations of Phase 1 of Madinat Al Mawater and also the start of operations of Barwa Al Khor – housing staff project for Shell employees, and the leasing of the entire Mustawdaat Project for 10.5 years with a total value of QR755mn. The group’s real estate portfolio has grown to include 6,639 housing units, 12,706 worker rooms, and 265,000 sq m of shops, showrooms, and offices. The company also initiated the construction of Barwa Village extension project; Phase 2 of Madinat Al Mawater and the Warehouses and Workshops project in Barwa Al Baraha with an overall total construction cost of QR316mn.Another achievement, al-Ali said was improving the operational efficiency of the group’s current projects where the occupancy rate in most of them had exceeded 95%.