Doha - Arabstoday
Lusail City expects to receive first tenants by the end of next year, said Essa Mohamed Ali Kaldari, CEO of Lusail Real Estate Development Company, which implements the ultra modern urban development. “We have a number of investors who have started constructing buildings and some of these are in the commissioning stage,” Kaldari said in reply to a question by Gulf Times at a press conference yesterday. “We, at Qatari Diar, are competing with other investors to be among the first tenants; we are also planning to move into one of the buildings in Lusail City,” Kaldari said. He said Lusail City is expected to be “fully built” by 2020. At that time, the futuristic project can accommodate some 200,000 residents and 170,000 employees in the commercial area; it will also welcome in excess of 80,000 visitors. The total estimated population of Lusail will eventually reach 450,000 people. The city will also include numerous residential units, office buildings of various sizes and many hotels with different international star ratings. The new extension to Doha, Lusail City is an ambitious and ground breaking concept of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company. In September of 2008, Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC) was assigned to deliver and distinguish Lusail City as the ‘conscience of sustainable development’ and set new standards for community facilities and services. Lusail City extends across an area of 38sq km and includes four exclusive islands and 19 multi-purpose residential, mixed use, entertainment and commercial districts, according to information posted on the company website. It is a comprehensive arena with leisure spots, residential buildings, commercial towers, avenues and public ports. Qtel, which, concluded a deal with Lusail Real Estate Development Company to roll out advanced telecom services in the mixed-use development said it would provide “complete communications infrastructure such as smart technology solutions”. Qtel chief operating officer Waleed Mohamed al-Sayed said the company would mobilise its resources to provide modern telecommunication facilities in Lusail. “We will bring to Lusail the latest telecommunication facilities available in the world including traditional telecom services,” al-Sayed said. “We are committed to help Qatar transform into a knowledge-based society,” he said and added that Qtel won the deal at Lusail through an intensive selection process. Kaldari said both LREDC and Qtel are committed to provide long-term services to Lusail City on a “smart city technology perspective”.