Gated Communities Proliferating in Pakistan
Real estate developers have so far built over 250 gated communities across Pakistan in response to rising demand from upwardly mobile Pakistanis.
These communities cater to insatiable demand for world-class and well-appointed housing with modern infrastructure including well-built wide roads and reliable supply of water and electricity. Additionally, they offer various state-of-the-art amenities such as schools, hospitals, mosques, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and parks located within secure communities, according to a report by Adrian Bishop, editor of Opp.Today.
Gated communities are being offered at multiple price points and payment plans that suit not just the rich but the middle class buyers as well. They offer condos (flats), townhouses and single-family homes on lot sizes ranging from 125 square yards to 2000 square yards. These communities are fueling a construction boom in Pakistan.
Defense Housing Authority (DHA), Bahria Town (Malik Riaz), Eden Housing (Aleem Khan), Emaar Properties (of UAE) and Ghurair-Giga (of UAE) are among the biggest developers of gated communities in Pakistan.
In addition to major Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, new gated communities are being developed in second and third tier cities as well. Recently, Bahria Town announced its newest development of a gated community in Nawabshah, a city of just over a million residents in southern Sindh province.
Here's an excerpt of a 2013 AFP report on Bahria Town gated community in Islamabad:
Cars glide softly over the smooth tarmac carpeting the gentle hills of Pakistan’s largest gated community, past immaculate green verges dotted with statues of cattle — which, unlike their real counterparts elsewhere in the country, pose no threat to traffic.
There’s a horse riding centre, a golf course, a posh cinema, an immaculately air-conditioned café and a mini zoo with “the only black panther in Pakistan”, whose growling excites young couples taking a walk.
Elsewhere 20 metre models of the Eiffel Tower and Nelson’s Column — complete with lions — watch over this vision of suburbia which seems a world away from the rest of Pakistan’s seething, traffic-choked and crumbling cities.
https://youtu.be/ZvKOCZuZAiM
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
ADB Raises Pakistan's GDP Growth Forecast
Pakistan's Rising Middle Class
Upwardly Mobile Pakistan
DHA Karachi Green City
Emaar Crescent Bay Karachi
Pakistani Construction Boom
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| Eden Housing Gated Community in Lahore, Pakistan |
These communities cater to insatiable demand for world-class and well-appointed housing with modern infrastructure including well-built wide roads and reliable supply of water and electricity. Additionally, they offer various state-of-the-art amenities such as schools, hospitals, mosques, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and parks located within secure communities, according to a report by Adrian Bishop, editor of Opp.Today.
Gated communities are being offered at multiple price points and payment plans that suit not just the rich but the middle class buyers as well. They offer condos (flats), townhouses and single-family homes on lot sizes ranging from 125 square yards to 2000 square yards. These communities are fueling a construction boom in Pakistan.
Defense Housing Authority (DHA), Bahria Town (Malik Riaz), Eden Housing (Aleem Khan), Emaar Properties (of UAE) and Ghurair-Giga (of UAE) are among the biggest developers of gated communities in Pakistan.
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| Bahria Town Islamabad |
In addition to major Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, new gated communities are being developed in second and third tier cities as well. Recently, Bahria Town announced its newest development of a gated community in Nawabshah, a city of just over a million residents in southern Sindh province.
Here's an excerpt of a 2013 AFP report on Bahria Town gated community in Islamabad:
Cars glide softly over the smooth tarmac carpeting the gentle hills of Pakistan’s largest gated community, past immaculate green verges dotted with statues of cattle — which, unlike their real counterparts elsewhere in the country, pose no threat to traffic.
There’s a horse riding centre, a golf course, a posh cinema, an immaculately air-conditioned café and a mini zoo with “the only black panther in Pakistan”, whose growling excites young couples taking a walk.
Elsewhere 20 metre models of the Eiffel Tower and Nelson’s Column — complete with lions — watch over this vision of suburbia which seems a world away from the rest of Pakistan’s seething, traffic-choked and crumbling cities.
https://youtu.be/ZvKOCZuZAiM
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
ADB Raises Pakistan's GDP Growth Forecast
Pakistan's Rising Middle Class
Upwardly Mobile Pakistan
DHA Karachi Green City
Emaar Crescent Bay Karachi
Pakistani Construction Boom
Comments
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1187284/potential-new-player-chinese-investor-eyeing-stake-dewan-cement/
In a development that may raise eyebrows in a highly competitive cement industry, a Chinese investor has expressed interest in due diligence of Dewan Cement Limited in order to acquire a stake in the company.
“We have received a request through email from a potential Chinese strategic investor seeking permission for due diligence of Dewan Cement, which may eventually lead to acquisition of shares in our company,” said a company notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday.
“We intend to permit due diligence; if any material development takes place, we will communicate the same to the (stock) exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.”
The development is expected to create an interesting situation in the cement sector where a number of companies are already vying to increase their market share.
“If this due diligence results in some deal, the new investor will most likely install a new plant which may take up to three years to start operations. So this is not an immediate threat to the cement cartel,” Sherman Securities analyst Sadiq Samin told The Express Tribune.
“The due diligence process will itself take two to three months and then we will have to look how it affects the market.”
This would not cause any jitters because cement demand was growing continuously, he said when asked whether the entry of a foreign player would spark fears.
Dewan Cement has a production capacity of around 2.88 million tons per annum, constituting 6.1% of the total installed capacity of 45.6 million tons of the cement industry. It has two manufacturing units including Pakland Cement and Saadi Cement.
Analysts suggest that the situation would have been different if the company had installed a new plant and the Chinese player could immediately start manufacturing cement after taking it over.
Pakland Cement was established in 1981 at Deh Dhando in Malir district, Karachi. The plant was fully operational by 1985 and producing Ordinary Portland Cement.
Anticipating a further growth in demand, cement companies are aggressively engaged in expansion of their plants.
Cherat Cement, Attock Cement, DG Khan Cement and Lucky Cement have already announced expansion plans and these plants will come online over the next three years. The combined investment by these players is expected to be in the range of $700 million to $1 billion.
The construction sector, a major consumer of cement, posted an excellent 13% growth in fiscal year 2015-16 compared to average growth of 4% in the past four years due to economic recovery and the booming real estate sector, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2016.
The government expects construction-related activities to pick up further momentum on the back of increasing public sector development spending coupled with massive infrastructure and power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
http://www.zameen.com/blog/royal-orchard-multan-a-project-of-royal-developers-builders-pvt-ltd.html
Apart from the provincial capitals, major cities across Pakistan have become the landing station for noted real estate developers who find the primary markets of the country less fertile for gaining momentum and generating sizable interest among investors and buyers. Lately, we have seen cities like Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Gujranwala welcome new residential projects by famous real estate developers.
Multan, being the central and major metropolis of South Punjab, is experiencing an enhanced real estate activity at the moment and additions of posh housing projects are adding value to the property market of the city further. Considering time right for the launch of a luxurious housing project in the city, Royal Developers & Builder (Pvt), a subsidiary of Habib Rafiq Pvt Ltd Group, brings its 60 years of experience to the City of Saints in the guise of Royal Orchard Multan.
Royal Orchard is located on Main Multan Public School Road near Northern Bypass and Mittital Road, Shakh-e-Madina Road and Women University, with the Multan International Airport only a 9-minute drive from the project site. It is one of the largest residential schemes in the city and offers the people of Multan a secured and amenities-laden lifestyle backed by Habib Rafiq (Pvt) LTD’s signature construction standards.
The projects is unique in various ways as it will have the biggest Jamia Mosque of Multan built on an area of 25 kanals. Royal Orchard will also have the biggest roundabout of the city as well as the biggest Commercial Broadway of Multan which would be 590 feet wide. The developer is offering a lifetime of maintenance services to the residents of Royal Orchard. Other attractions of the project include:
• Underground electrification
• Community Transport services
• Telephone exchange and DSL
• Water filtration plants
• Post office
• International standard mini golf club
• A community club
• Parks, play grounds and jogging tracks
• Banks and shopping plazas
• School, colleges and a university
• A Cineplex
• Food courts, restaurants and hotels
• Gated community, walled premises
• Four manned entrances from three sides of the city
• Carpeted roads
• Security check posts, physical surveillance, CCTV
You can choose to buy residential plots in Royal Orchard in various sizes to suit your budget. Payments can be made through a convenient 3-year plan. For more details, I recommend you visit Zameen.com’s New Projects Section for Royal Orchard Multan.
Agha Steel Industries Ltd. is planning Pakistan’s biggest-ever private sector initial share sale this year to help boost output as China funds more than $55 billion in infrastructure projects across the nation and a buoyant stock market spurs investor demand.
The Karachi-based company plans to raise as much as 10 billion rupees ($95 million) selling a 25 percent stake, Executive Director Hussain Agha said in an interview. The sale will be the largest since the 12-billion rupees government stake sale of Habib Bank Ltd. in 2007, the country’s largest IPO yet.
Steel and cement makers in Pakistan are expanding to meet demand as the “One Belt, One Road” trade route financed by China spurs construction. The nation’s economy has grown at about 5 percent annually since 2013, encouraging Agha’s peers including International Steels Ltd. and Aisha Steel Mills Ltd. to lift production.
“You need roads, sky rises and housing,” said Agha. “Pakistan’s steel industry is in an infancy stage and growing at a massive pace -- the whole environment will change.”
Read more: Chinese Largesse Lures Countries to Its Belt and Road Initiative
The company will use the funds for $50 million expansion that will triple output to 500,000 metric tons within two years. Production will then double to a million tons by 2023, he said. Habib Bank has been appointed financial adviser while Arif Habib Ltd. and BMA Capital Ltd. were picked as book runners for transaction.
Pakistan’s steel output grew 23 percent to 3.6 million tons in 2016, the biggest gain among 40 nations, according to the World Steel Association. Agha Steel expects construction-grade steel, such as rebars and wire rods, to grow as much as 12 percent annually for the next three years.
The construction sector expanded 13 percent in year ended June 2016, more than twice the pace in the previous 12 months, according to State Bank of Pakistan’s annual report. Rapid urbanization and rising income levels has left the nation with an annual shortfall of 500,000 homes, according to real-estate developer Arif Habib.
“Real-estate is the main engine for this growth, it has really picked up,” said Ayub Khuhro, chief investment officer of Karachi-based Faysal Asset Management Ltd., which has about 8 billion rupees in stocks and bonds. “The government is also willing to protect companies with anti-dumping measures.”
Following chaos, real estate markets largely stay stable
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1468287/following-chaos-real-estate-markets-largely-stay-stable/
Real estate markets in Pakistan largely remained quiet in the first half of calendar year 2017 following chaos in the second half of previous year in the wake of revision in property tax rates and new property valuations.
Islamabad
Among major cities of the country, market activity was largely dominated by genuine buyers in Islamabad in the first half of 2017 with little price fluctuations.
Pindi police officer suspended for aiding alleged land grabber
The areas that performed well were Bahria Town and Sector B-17. In Bahria Town, prices for one-kanal (605-square-yard) plots rose 5.84% and those for 10-marla (302-square-yard) plots increased 4.52%.
In Sector B-17, prices for one-kanal plots increased 14.26% while rates for 10-marla plots swelled 18.05%. Growth in the sector came primarily as a result of construction of a new airport.
Lahore
There was little activity in the city and overall the real estate market remained stable in the first half. Following a positive trend at the start of the year, it was expected that activity in Bahria Town would resume. However, this did not happen because of issues in the Lahore Ring Road and in Sector-F.
High population density resulted in stability in property prices in the Wapda Town. However, LDA Avenue-1 experienced a slight drop of 2.79% in prices for one-kanal plots and 5.98% for 10-marla plots. The price dip was primarily because of litigation issues, lack of security and low level of development.
However, some areas in the city performed relatively better. DHA Lahore’s Phases I-VI recorded a growth of 3.79% in prices for one-kanal plots and 1.72% for 10-marla plots.
As these areas had a high population density, this hindered the prospects for engaging more buyers and investors. Much of the activity took place in Phases V and VI.
In Phases VII-IX, prices increased moderately by 3.29% for one-kanal and 4.2% for 10-marla plots.
A long-standing political uncertainty over the Panama Papers case has had its impact on real estate prices in some areas.
The worst-hit was Bahria Orchard where prices dropped 3.2% for one-kanal and 7.78% for 10-marla plots as many investors were attracted towards Bahria Town Karachi.
Gujranwala
Investor and buyer activity in Master City, Citi Housing and DC Colony remained stable while DHA Gujranwala recorded hefty price movements.
In DHA Gujranwala, one-kanal plots registered a price increase of 21.88% whereas prices for 10-marla plots rose 15.44%. Prices are expected to rise again as various other DHA projects slow down.
In Master City, plot prices edged up 1.44% for one kanal and 4.93% for 10 marla. Citi Housing saw price increase of 4.08% for one-kanal plots and 3.35% for 10-marla plots. Many investors in this project were attracted away by Palm City, resulting in less activity in Citi Housing.
Karachi
Bahria Town Karachi was one of the most attractive investment avenues. It was able to attract investors away from Gwadar because of its development at a rapid pace.
NAB arrests man for illegal sale of government land
Prices for 500-square-yard plots jumped 35.94% while rates for 250-square-yard land pieces swelled 43.96%. For genuine buyers, Gulshan-e-Iqbal remained the top choice.
Buyer activity in DHA Karachi and DHA City Karachi was rather sluggish. DHA City had fared well in the first quarter, but investors were then attracted towards the fast-developing Gwadar city.
“Localities that had speedy development performed better than others in H1. Moreover, localities that had infrastructure developments taking place nearby also saw significant jumps. This tells us that investors are looking at areas that will prove to be the right fit for homeowners in the future,” commented Zeeshan Ali Khan, CEO of Zameen.com – a real estate portal.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/real-estate/why-its-a-good-time-to-invest-in-pakistans-real-estate
Factors such as federal budget, law amendments and introduction of real estate investment trust have influenced sector's advancement
akistan's real estate industry continues to evolve as companies try to resolve real estate complexities in order to increase its growth, experts have revealed.
Factors such as the federal budget, law amendments and the introduction of the real estate investment trust have influenced the advancement of the industry. According to reports, investors have pulled out money from several banks in Pakistan after the introduction of 0.3 to 0.6 per cent withholding tax on filers and non-filers on tax returns.
These components, along with the rise of safe property investment bets in various parts of the country and abroad, encourage Pakistanis and non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) to invest in valuable long-term investments compared to short-term purchases.
Showcasing the change in the industry, this year's International Real Estate and Investment Show brings the third Pakistan Property Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. The specialised event, held with the support of the Pakistan Embassy, Pakistan Business Council and Pakistan Association Dubai, showcases the country's leading developers and realty agents under one roof to showcase the best options for investment, provide spot sales and learn about the leading insights into the market. Visitors can expect to see properties from cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Gwadar, Gujranwala and many more.
"Studies have continuously shown new global trends that the real estate market in Pakistan is tapping into. Apart from new demographic movements, Pakistan has also witnessed a heavy intercity migration over the last five years due to security and economic benefits that specific cities offer," said Antoine Georges, managing director of Dome Exhibitions. "The International Real Estate Exhibition Show enables Pakistanis to secure homes and investment properties in their country by bringing the opportunities to them through the Pakistan Property Exhibition. The pavilion aims to attract more than 10,000 Pakistani investors from the UAE."
To be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from November 2-4, the exhibition enables Pakistan's realty giants such as DHA, Model Housing Lahore, New Lahore City and Bahria Town to showcase the latest properties available for aspiring buyers.
Real estate and investment companies will also have the chance to market their products to Pakistani investors through well-tailored marketing strategies made available by marketers such as Athar Marketing, Star Marketing, Midas Group and Q&A Marketing and more.
You should go back and visit. You would be surprised!
Pakistan in your mind may be frozen in time, but real Pakistan has changed. Everything has changed.
You will find both familiarity and alienness there. It would appear to you like a dream. Or perhaps like being on Star Trek Holodeck, where things are familiar but there are new actors, and you are still a stranger.
First thing that would hit you would be the increase in population. Too many people compared to the time you left Pakistan. Some areas that were farms and free spaces when you were there would now be occupied by new housing developments.
The physical appearances would have changed. There would not be any complete transformation to prosperity, but new buildings replacing old ones, new motorways, would change the physical reality.
You would find distances have shrunk.
The places that seemed far away because you walked to them or went on bicycle, would appear to be so near because now you would travel by car.
You would meet someone, with white beard, bald head, missing teeth, and perhaps walking with a cane, who be introduced to you as your classmate. You would be blown away by the ravages of time, and be grateful for your health.
A middle aged woman with young children would come to visit you. And she will turn out to be the daughter of a cousin or a friend, who was just an infant at the time you left Pakistan.
And finally, as you relive the memories of your childhood, you may find a reason to visit again and again.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/banking-finance/380400-dubais-abraaj-invests-in-pakistan-cinema-operator
Dubai-based Abraaj Group has announced it has invested in Cinepax Limited, Pakistan’s leading cinema operator.
With Abraaj’s investment, the value of which has not been disclosed, Cinepax plans to develop 80 new screens across multiple locations over the next four years and also grow other entertainment related ventures, Abraaj said in a statement.
Arif Baigmohamed and Pir Saad Ahsanuddin established Cinepax in 2006 and launched their first multiplex in 2007. Since then, the company has established itself in the market and today has 29 screens in 12 locations.
Pakistan’s entertainment industry has significant growth potential, with a low ratio of cinema screens (0.5 per million population).
Abraaj said it will support the company in establishing international standard multiplex cinemas in new and upcoming areas.
Omar Lodhi, partner for Asia at The Abraaj Group, said: “Our investment into Cinepax demonstrates our faith in the opportunity that Pakistan’s young growing population and expanding middle class represents.
"As one of the most active investors in Pakistan, with a strong on-the-ground presence, we see a long-term market opportunity in the cinema operator and video streaming business.”
Arif Baigmohamed, chairman of Cinepax, added: “We are delighted to welcome Abraaj as an investor into our business and look forward to partnering together to reach more people across the country, providing much needed entertainment options.”
The Abraaj Group has been present in Pakistan since 2004. This transaction marks Abraaj’s ninth investment into Pakistan across a number of sectors including healthcare, power distribution, renewable energy and industrials.
Waheed Abbas/Dubai
Filed on October 18, 2017 | Last updated on October 18, 2017 at 08.17 pm
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/real-estate/danube-eyeing-larger-footprint-in-pakistan
Pakistani nationals are one of the largest investors in Dubai's real estate sector
Real estate firm Danube Group aims to strengthen its presence in Pakistan by attracting more investments into its property portfolio, and is also expanding its home furnishing brand into the South Asian country.
"Pakistan is strategically a very important market. We are searching for a right franchise partner there. Some investors have shown interest, [so] we are evaluating the right partner. Post completion of the market research and study, we are looking to open stores across major cities of Pakistan. Though the location is still not decided, we will plan the location based on our research analysis," said Adel Sajan, director of Danube Group.
He pointed out that Danube Home stores usually span an area between 5,000 sqft to 10,000 sqft for boutique concepts and 25,000 sqft to 45,000 sqft for the big box concept, with an investment ranging between $400,000 (Dh1.468 million) to $2.5 million (Dh9.175 million), depending on the size of the store, number of stores and operating cost in the country. In order to tap Pakistani investors, the Dubai-based group recently appointed cricket captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as its ambassador in Dubai.
Atif Rahman, director and partner at Danube Properties, told Khaleej Times in an interview that the group's customer base from Pakistan is expanding fast, therefore, it's important with over 200 million population to focus on the market and reach out to customers there.
"Right now, between seven to eight per cent of investors - and revenues - are from Pakistan. In terms of sale value, we are talking about Dh200 million-plus investments by Pakistani nationals in to Danube's projects. We are also seeing month-on-month increase in investments that motivated us to be associated with a brand ambassador from that market and also start venturing into that market locally. Therefore, you will see a lot of road shows and activities in Karachi and Lahore at the end of October and early November," Rahman revealed during the interview.
Meanwhile, Pakistani nationals are one of the largest investors in Dubai's real estate sector. A recent statement by Dubai Land Department said that Pakistani nationals made 5,398 real estate transactions worth nearly Dh7 billion. Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue recently told parliament that its nationals had parked $8 billion (Dh29.36 billion) in to the UAE's - mainly in Dubai - real estate sector.
Rahman said: "Without any doubt, our business from Pakistan is going to grow. There is a consistent demand for construction material as well as properties. We have a very traditional, conventional and organic way of expanding business. We go out on a small scale and grow it strength-by-strength. Right now, we have added two cities of Karachi and Lahore; if the response continues to be good and numbers are increasing, we will continue to invest. There is no upper limit - it's purely organic and based on the confidence in the market," he noted.
"We believe Gwadar is following in the footsteps of Shenzen which represented a historic population rise, from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to 11 million people in 2017. Gwadar is poised to see massive population growth due to incoming industries, and we expect this to be one of the most strategic cities in South Asia."
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/china-pak-investments-acquires-project-in-gwadar-pakistan-648608313.html
Leading private investment house China Pak Investment Corporation today announced its acquisition of the 3.6 million square foot International Port City project in the city of Gwadar. The investment company is currently revising the scheme's plans in line with international developments standards and will be developing the first of its kind $150 million gated master community tailor-made for the expected 500,000 incoming Chinese professionals expected in Gwadar by 2022.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/564249/China_Pak_Hills_Phase_1.jpg )
The project which is expected to be renamed China Pak Hills hails an exciting new phase in the development of the port of Gwadar, the 'Gateway City' to the $62 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the largest unilateral foreign direct investment from one nation into another. The CPEC is set to catapult Pakistan's stature as a key global trade and economic hub and includes a bouquet of projects currently under construction that will not only improve Pakistan's infrastructure, but will deepen the economic and political ties between China and Pakistan.
Hao-Yeh Chang, Corporate Communications Director for China Pak Investments Corporation commented, "We believe Gwadar is following in the footsteps of Shenzen which represented a historic population rise, from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to 11 million people in 2017. Gwadar is poised to see massive population growth due to incoming industries, and we expect this to be one of the most strategic cities in South Asia."
The final master plan for China Pak Hills is currently being refined in Hong Kong, and will feature a range of state-of-the-art amenities including an open-air shopping boulevard; indoor shopping mall; restaurants and eateries; an international school & nursery; six community parks; indoor and outdoor sports facilities including tennis courts and a resident's gymnasium; a water desalination plant and recycling centre. China Pak Hills will also be home to the Gwadar Financial District, catering to the growing financial sector and adding much needed A Grade office space to Gwadar's growing market.
One Investments Ltd, a UK-based property investment company, headed by Zeeshan Shah, have been appointed as Global Master - Agent for the Development. "China Pak Hills is a unique and exciting opportunity. The level of investment and commitment made by the Chinese government in the CPEC guarantees that Gwadar is going to be one of the most important trading and access points in the World. Its geographic position, combined with the infrastructure being created through the CPEC means that it can only grow exponentially."
The China Pak Hills master-community is being developed by China Pak Investments and is soon expected to announce options for private sale of limited plots to end purchasers.
Privately developed suburbs are booming in Pakistan. But at what cost?
https://theoutline.com/post/3454/pakistan-suburbs-bahria-town-malik-riaz
here’s an intersection in Karachi where the road suddenly becomes smooth. I sit up and take notice whenever I’m driving on it because there’s an abrupt lack of potholes, and after jostling around the back of a rickshaw or taxi for most of my day, the unbroken surface is almost alarming. Unlike the rest of the city, the street lamps at this intersection glow bright at night, the asphalt always looks fresh, and there’s no trash on the ground. The walls of the underpass are inscribed with a circular logo that spells out “Bahria Town” in Urdu script. “This road brought to you by Bahria Town,” reads a sign as you leave it.
Bahria Town claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate company. It builds manicured planned communities outside of Pakistan’s three major cities, Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi, as well as some key properties in urban areas. Fundamentally, Bahria Town sells private solutions to the ills of a state-run Pakistani urban habitat, one in which rolling blackouts and flooded streets are common occurrences. The company’s images of life in one of its many planned communities — gated towns that appear to be a perfect blend of bland American suburbs a la Phoenix or Houston and the dumb opulence of Dubai — present an idyllic escape from the smog-filled urban decay of Karachi. “Amidst Soft Grass and Pure Class,” reads the company’s website, “Bahria Town is the force turning the vision of modern Pakistan into a reality.”
It’s easy to believe Bahria Town really is the force of modernity in a country rife with structural problems. Karachiites remark what a pleasure it is to drive through an intersection devoid of the usual urban mess. There’s no stopping or stalling because of broken or ignored traffic lights, so there’s none of the usual window tapping from beggars and hawkers. The intersection doesn’t even require the presence of uniformed traffic cop, the stalwart token of post-colonial megacities. For the few minutes it takes to drive the half-mile road, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Pakistan at all. And when the Pakistan around you is one of disrepair and conspicuous poverty, it’s not necessarily a bad feeling.
------
That feeling gave way to incredulity when it dawned on me just how big Bahria Town Karachi is. I felt as if I was in the ghost-pepper episode of The Simpsons: I’d look to my left and see a seemingly endless row of identical houses emerging from the desert, then to my right see a giant flower drooping over a tea cup. Every major roundabout in Bahria Town was adorned with either golden galloping horses or an unexplained surrealist interpretation of seemingly random objects: a golf ball, lions, flowers, and at times, plaques of Malik Riaz’s face. The roads, often six lanes wide and perfectly painted, stretched deep into the desert, splitting off into subdivisions of half-built homes that could have been plucked from any suburb in the U.S. Eerily, the entire city was virtually empty save for construction workers squinting into the sun.
I pulled into one of the subdivisions and saw a group of workers, the biggest I’d seen in one place since arriving in the community. “We’re caulkers,” they said. Their only job was to caulk between the tiles in every house; they did the same job down the line of houses. “We have about four more today,” one of them told me. I looked down the row and counted at least 20 houses on the street, half of them still in need of a paint job. I walked into one of the half-built homes and immediately felt the familiarity of the suburban layout I grew up with in the middle of Indiana. One bathroom here, a kitchen there, the door to the backyard here. Though we were only an hour outside of Karachi, where the average family can barely afford a single-room house, I was standing in the middle of some twisted version of the American suburb.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-06/egyptian-billionaire-eyes-further-pakistan-real-estate-projects
Naquib Sawiris is developing a $2b estate in Islamabad
Pakistan faces a housing shortage as its population expands
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris’s Ora Developers will next month start building a luxurious $2 billion housing estate on the outskirts of Islamabad and is eyeing further projects as it taps demand from overseas Pakistanis.
The ‘Eighteen Islamabad’ development will feature more than 1,000 homes, a golf course and a mall on 2.25 million square meters of land. It will take six years to complete, said Tarek Hamdy, chief executive officer of the development. Sawiris holds 60 percent in a joint venture with local firms Kohistan Builders and Developers and Saif Group, owned by Pakistan’s prominent Saifullah family.
Pakistan’s real estate sector has seen a boom in recent years as militant violence has receded. Economic growth in the nation of more than 200 million people has risen to around 5 percent as China finances more than $50 billion on infrastructure projects across the country. House prices have more than doubled since 2011, according to property website Zameen.com, and housing projects are mushrooming in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar,
“The market isn’t saturated,” Hamdy said in an interview at his office next to Islamabad’s Margalla hills, adding that Sawiris’s firm is eyeing potential other projects that may be announced by the end of this year.
Prices for a three bedroom home on the estate start at 30.5 million rupees ($275,395) and about $400 million will be invested in the development in the first two years, Hamdy said.
‘Highest Quality’
“You can develop a project at very reasonable margins” between 10 to 40 percent, he said. “The highest quality still makes money.”
Sawiris is not new to Pakistan. He previously set up one of Pakistan’s first mobile phone companies, Mobilink, now the nation’s largest cellular firm by subscriber numbers.
Apart from private businessmen such as Malik Riaz Hussain who is building Pakistan’s largest development outside Karachi, the military’s housing business has sped up efforts to grab market share. Hamdy sees overseas Pakistanis particularly in the U.S., U.K. and Middle East as major buyers and is considering launching another housing project by the end of 2018.
A shortage of housing units will boost construction activity in Pakistan as the urban population grows by nearly 30 million by 2027, BMI Research said in a December report. Construction has been one of the largest recipients of foreign direct investment and in the first seven months of this fiscal year $380 million was invested in the sector, according to central bank data.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/307352-chinese-giant-to-build-gwadars-first-luxury-golf-community
State-owned Chinese construction company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has announced that it has entered into agreement for the construction of Gwadar's first luxury gated Golf Community with a Pakistani company.
Empire Properties, the Pakistan registered company, and the CCECC have signed a memorandum of understanding as the prospective contractor for the construction of China Pak Golf Estates, Gwadar's first luxury Golf Community.
The $265 million development is a milestone in the development of Gwadar and will deliver the emerging port city’s most premier residential and lifestyle destination, said a joint press release issued here.
Commenting on the partnership Mr Wang Lei, Managing Director CCECC (Pakistan) said: "It is a great honour to be working alongside a forward thinking international conglomerate like CPIC. China Pak Golf Estates is a ground breaking development for not only Gwadar but Pakistan and we are honoured to be a part of this monumental project and contributing to the growth story of Emerging Pakistan. CCECC are a leading global contractor with 39 years of experience in over 40 countries delivering high quality projects ranging from civil engineering design and consultancy to real estate development. We aim to deliver a timeless community in China Pak Golf Estates that will set a new standard to master community development in Pakistan."
Afzal Shah, CEO or Empire Properties said: "China Pak Golf Estates will truly set a new standard to real estate community development in Pakistan and there isn't a better company we could be working with to deliver this grand vision than CCECC. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr Wang Lei and his team as we embark on this virtuous journey together. Our vision extends beyond developing Pakistan's finest communities, we will change the fabric of Pakistan's real estate industry by setting a new benchmark for integrity and transparency in a market that at times can be described as less than open. Our goal is to elevate the market to the same standards as established international markets. This will result in the introduction of institutional investment which in turn will revolutionise the country’s real estate sector and deliver the quality of life Pakistanis deserve".
https://www.albawaba.com/business/pr/5-billion-investment-boost-pakistan-real-estate-major-developers-participate-dream-home-
UAE-based BMS International Commercial Investment LLC, one of the Royal Group Companies of Sheikh Saeed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, has shown interest in investing $3 billion in different economic sectors of Pakistan, with a focus on real estate.
Louai Mohammed Ali, chairman of BMS International Commercial Investment, made the commitment to invest in Pakistan’s real estate development, agriculture and fisheries, energy, hospitality and leisure, healthcare and education sectors.
In December 2017, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris of Ora Developers and Pakistan’s Saif Group announced investing over $2 billion in real estate ventures in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s near-term outlook for economic growth is broadly favourable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a recent statement.
“Real GDP is expected to grow by 5.6 percent in FY 2017/18, supported by improved power supply, investment related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strong consumption growth, and ongoing recovery in agriculture. Inflation has remained contained,” the IMF said in a statement in March 2018.
Total Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan surged 68.9 per cent to $4.45 billion in the nine months of FY2018, according to the central bank data.
With a population of almost 208 million people, Pakistan is suffering a shortage of 12 million houses, said a latest report. Karachi, with its behemothian population of 16.6 million, has an annual shortage of 300,000 houses.
Pakistan’s growing economy supported by its investment sector has remained instrumental to the country’s economic growth over the last five years. With a spend of about $5.2 billion on real estate construction backed up by price correction of up to 20 percent and major advancements in the overall industry dynamics, the property market has enabled strong returns among investors compared to other investment avenues.
Likewise, recent studies have indicated a significant move in the local real estate market of Pakistan towards overseas investment, being identified as one of the largest investors in the International Property Market. Pakistan’s property buyers have increasingly secured homes and investment in Europe, GCC, Canada and UK.
Global real estate transaction value reached $698 billion in 2017, 6 percent above the total transacted in 2016, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate advisory. Pakistani investors represented a good chunk of this.
Pakistani nationals have invested Dh24.98 billion in Dubai’s real estate through 19,955 transactions in the last four years (2014-2017), according to Dubai Land Department (DLD) making them the third largest non-Arab investor group by nationality.
DOME Exhibitions in collaboration with Pakistan’s leading media house Jang Media Group is back this year to bring the International Real Estate Investment opportunities in the heart of Pakistan with its much-awaited participation at the Dream Home Expo, Pakistan’s leading property and investment exhibition.
“Pakistanis and Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRP) alike have increasingly been investing within Pakistan and in international markets. Such investors have made their mark in countries across the world, acquiring not just investments but also citizenship opportunities through various investment programs,” said Antoine Georges, Managing Director of DOME Exhibitions, International Pavilion organizer of the exhibition.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/03/29/housing-finance-in-pakistan-to-become-accessible-and-affordable
The World Bank today approved $145 million to expand home owner-ship including women and the poor through access to affordable housing finance in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Housing Finance Project (PHFP) will support Government of Pakistan’s vision and strategy for housing development. The project will extend financial and technical assistance to Pakistan Mortgage Refinancing Company (PMRC), the Planning Commission (PC), and other institutions to increase availability of mortgage financing for households. Nearly a third of country’s population does not own homes and this pressure is rising with growing demand.
“This project will spur the development of housing mortgage market in the country and make housing fi-nance affordable and reachable to many Pakistanis,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Di-rector for Pakistan. “The beneficiaries will include women and low-income groups through improved incen-tives for ecofriendly homes.”
The project adopts an innovative approach including crowding in commercial financing for home ownership and providing greater incentives for women to become home owners. It also incentivizes people to build energy efficient and green homes and adopt climate and disaster-resilient construction designs and materi-als.
“Pakistan’s mortgage finance to Gross Domestic Product ratio of 0.25 percent is extremely low compared to the South Asia average of 3.4 percent,” said Korotoumou Ouattara, World Bank Senior Financial Sector Economist. “There is a significant market gap across all segments of the population. The creation of PMRC marks an important step in achieving the Government of Pakistan’s objective to improve access to housing finance in the country. The project will address the liquidity constraints of lenders, support capital market development, and create an enabling environment for a sound national housing policy.”
PHFP is financed by the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poor, with a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of 5 years.
https://www.cemnet.com/News/story/164462/fdi-pakistan-touches-53-growth-in-fy18.html
Pakistan's cement and construction industry received foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$766.3m during the 12 months of FY17-18 (July -June), compared to US$501.9m received in corresponding months of last fiscal year. This translates a YoY growth of 53 per cent, says the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The breakdown shows that cement industry attracted FDI of US$59m and the construction industry US$707.30m compared to US$36m and US$465.90m, respectively in July 2016-June 2017.
According to SBP, the cement industry makes a direct contribution of 7.5 per cent to large-scale manufacturing. Moreover, the cement manufacturers will expand their production capacities aggressively, from 49.4Mta to 72.8Mta in the next few years, and the additional capacity would result in the imports of machinery of around US$1.5bn (near PKR178bn) over next few years, says SBP.
In the cement industry, the cost of machinery imports comes around 70 per cent of total cost of the unit/project. This means, the overall estimated cost of expansion would be around PKR254bn (US$2bn).
https://www.albawaba.com/business/pr/5-billion-investment-boost-pakistan-real-estate-major-developers-participate-dream-home-
UAE-based BMS International Commercial Investment LLC, one of the Royal Group Companies of Sheikh Saeed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, has shown interest in investing $3 billion in different economic sectors of Pakistan, with a focus on real estate.
Louai Mohammed Ali, chairman of BMS International Commercial Investment, made the commitment to invest in Pakistan’s real estate development, agriculture and fisheries, energy, hospitality and leisure, healthcare and education sectors.
In December 2017, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris of Ora Developers and Pakistan’s Saif Group announced investing over $2 billion in real estate ventures in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s near-term outlook for economic growth is broadly favourable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a recent statement.
“Real GDP is expected to grow by 5.6 percent in FY 2017/18, supported by improved power supply, investment related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strong consumption growth, and ongoing recovery in agriculture. Inflation has remained contained,” the IMF said in a statement in March 2018.
Total Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan surged 68.9 per cent to $4.45 billion in the nine months of FY2018, according to the central bank data.
With a population of almost 208 million people, Pakistan is suffering a shortage of 12 million houses, said a latest report. Karachi, with its behemothian population of 16.6 million, has an annual shortage of 300,000 houses.
Pakistan’s growing economy supported by its investment sector has remained instrumental to the country’s economic growth over the last five years. With a spend of about $5.2 billion on real estate construction backed up by price correction of up to 20 percent and major advancements in the overall industry dynamics, the property market has enabled strong returns among investors compared to other investment avenues.
Likewise, recent studies have indicated a significant move in the local real estate market of Pakistan towards overseas investment, being identified as one of the largest investors in the International Property Market. Pakistan’s property buyers have increasingly secured homes and investment in Europe, GCC, Canada and UK.
Global real estate transaction value reached $698 billion in 2017, 6 percent above the total transacted in 2016, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate advisory. Pakistani investors represented a good chunk of this.
Pakistani nationals have invested Dh24.98 billion in Dubai’s real estate through 19,955 transactions in the last four years (2014-2017), according to Dubai Land Department (DLD) making them the third largest non-Arab investor group by nationality.
DOME Exhibitions in collaboration with Pakistan’s leading media house Jang Media Group is back this year to bring the International Real Estate Investment opportunities in the heart of Pakistan with its much-awaited participation at the Dream Home Expo, Pakistan’s leading property and investment exhibition.
“Pakistanis and Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRP) alike have increasingly been investing within Pakistan and in international markets. Such investors have made their mark in countries across the world, acquiring not just investments but also citizenship opportunities through various investment programs,” said Antoine Georges, Managing Director of DOME Exhibitions, International Pavilion organizer of the exhibition.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to build 100,000 housing units in Pakistan to help realize Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream of an ‘ambitious’ housing project, officials said on Friday.
“Naguib Sawiris has expressed his will to invest in 100,000 units of affordable housing to help prime minister (Imran Khan) in his vision toward Pakistan,” Tarek Hamdy, Chief Executive officer of Elite Estates — a partnership between Ora Developer and Saif Holding — told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
Owned by Sawiris, Ora Developers is already engaged in the construction of a multibillion-dollar housing scheme named ‘Eighteen’ which was launched in 2017 in Islamabad with local partners, Saif Group and Kohistan Builders.
Sawiris’ first investment in Pakistan was in Mobilink, a cellular operator.
PM Khan in October 2018 had launched ‘Naya’ (New) Pakistan Housing Project in line with his party’s election manifesto, which promised fivr million houses for the poor.
Hamdy says they have “set rules or guidelines of the way of doing things” that apply to every real estate projects — whether they are affordable or high value units.
“We will use our experience and knowhow to deliver this properly to the people of Pakistan,” he added.
Since the announcement of the low-cost housing project for the poor, the scheme has been at the heart of all political and economic discourses with several calling it too ambitious.
“This scheme is very ambitious yet very promising for the people of Pakistan. I think all the developers should help in this scheme. You cannot solely rely on the government to build five million houses,” Hamdy said.
Recently, the governor of Pakistan’s central bank had said that the massive housing project would require financing of upto Rs 17 trillion.
Hamdy believes that the promise of building five million affordable housing units cannot be realized in a short span of time. “I think the plan is right but it has to be in stages, has to be in steps. It could be achievable obviously that is not the project (to be achieved) in one or two years... may take few good years, may be couple of decades to be achieved,” he said.
In the Islamabad project the Ora Developers own a 60 percent stake in the project comprising a five-star hotel, 1,068 housing units, 921 residential apartments, business parks, hospitals, schools and other educational facilities and 13 office buildings, and a golf course. The networth of the project is $2 billion.
The next cities on the radar for real estate projects are Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad. “We intend to do more, we intend to invest more. I think that our portfolio of real estate could come to $10 billion worth of investments in the next five to 10 years including all the projects that we intent to do,” Hamdy said.
Pakistan’s housing sector is marred by frauds, scams and unfinished schemes which has been discouraging many potential investors from venturing into the sector. However, Hamdy says he is confident of delivering the promise by 2021.
Analysts say that Pakistan’s housing sector offers great opportunities for investment due to increasing demand. “According to estimates, the current real estate market value is around Rs900 billion which is three times that of the GDP,” Saad Hashmey, an analyst at Topline Securities, told Arab News, adding that the PM’s housing project is the need of the hour.
Pakistan faces a shortage of nearly 12 million housing units that may require a massive investment of around $180 billion, according to the former Chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers, Arif Yousuf Jeewa.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday accepted Bahria Twon’s offer to submit Rs460 billion in settlements for its Karachi project.
The development came as a three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed Sheikh haired the case pertaining to real estate company.
Bahria Town will have to pay the amount during next seven years after payment of Rs25 billion down-payment till August 27.
It will submit Rs2.5 billion monthly during the first four years and the outstanding amount will be paid in the next three years.
According to the Supreme Court, Bahria Twon will start paying the installments from September this year.
It will have to pay 4 percent mark up in case of delay in payment of installments which would be submitted with the apex court.
The court will then transfer the money whoever Bahria Twon owes it to.
The Supreme Court said that Bahria Twon director will have to submit an affidavit to the court regarding the payment.
The Supreme Court also stopped the National Accountability Bureau from filing further references against Bahria Town and directed the ant-graft body to approach the court before filing any references in the future.
Pakistan is in the middle of an unusual property boom. Developers grab large tracts of land, stealing them outright or occupying them, advertise mega development projects and then buy off regulators with the money they raise selling some of the land they dubiously claim. Poor people who have lived in their homes for generations are served eviction notices and visited by bulldozers in the dead of night.
On one side of my house in Karachi is a market. It’s a typical Pakistani market, with car mechanics, barbers, milk and bread sellers, drapers. During the last few years, many of the shops have turned into real estate agencies. One day I counted 153 before giving up. Agents who can’t afford to own proper offices sit on the sidewalks and deal there.
On the other side of my house, some 600 yards away, is the Arabian Sea. In the last couple of years, part of the sea has been reclaimed for a military-run housing scheme. Where once there were murky waves, you can now buy what is advertised as a “super hot” 300-square yard plot for 200 million rupees (more than $1.3 million) That’s in the extension of the Defense Housing Authority’s Phase 8 development project — which is being extended even though it is mostly unpopulated.
At the top of Pakistan’s property ladder sits the army, which has developed vast housing estates in all major cities. Although these were meant to be for retired officers and their relatives (and never for just soldiers), the plots are often sold to the highest bidders. It’s a lucrative business: People know that governments come and go, but the army is here to stay, and its housing societies, too.
When Gen. Raheel Sharif, Pakistan’s last army chief, retired, he was awarded 88 acres of land — the nation’s gift for his services, I guess. The land was meant for farming. But Mr. Sharif serves in Saudi Arabia as the head of some vague force that will supposedly rid us of terrorism. He doesn’t have time for farming.
Land grabbing in Pakistan probably started with the birth of the country. People made fortunes either by occupying or claiming properties left behind by people who fled during Partition in 1947. You can still find entire estates and villages named after bureaucrats, who had basically allotted them to themselves. Much of this land was acquired on the pretense of agricultural development; it has become gated communities and golf courses.
Before he was elected prime minister, Mr. Khan promised to build five million low-cost houses if he came to power. An initial groundbreaking ceremony was held only this month.
Mr. Khan owns nearly 40 acres on the top of a hill in Islamabad, which he says he bought after selling property in London — which he’d bought with money he made as a star cricket player. Any number of laws were broken so that he could build a mansion there. A special federal commission was set up (after Mr. Khan took office) just for the purpose of regularizing that arrangement.
Pakistan suffered at the hands of corruption and irregularities over the span of last ten years and it will require time to set it right, said Chaudhry Aneel Musarrat, Prime Minister Imran Khan's adviser and friend.
“The last ten years witnessed high incidence of mismanagement, poor decisions and wastage of national money,” he told Geo News. “It will require time to repair such a massive backlog. Had the PTI-led government not aggressively controlled over such malpractices, the situation would have gone far worse.”
The PM’s adviser also informed that Prime Minister Imran’s Naya Pakistan Housing scheme for five million houses has already been kick-started in different cities of Pakistan, including Quetta, Islamabad, and Faisalabad. The project is underway on seven locations in Pakistan, he pointed out, adding private developers also are going to contribute shortly.
He said the government’s foremost responsibility is to follow through the process of eliminating corruption and keeping up the accountability. “Khan Sahib said he will abolish corruption from Pakistan. Now, the corrupt people are being subjected to accountability,” he said.
The pilferage and robbery of the national coffers will come to an end, he added.
Musarrat also lauded the services rendered by the Pakistan’s armed forces. Services of the armed forces are highly commendable, as they have laid down their lives to fortify the country’s defence, he remarked.
The Pakistan Army is one of the best institutions in the world and we should thank God that they have curbed extremism and terrorism in the country, he pointed out.
Housing & Construction Industry of Pakistan
Housing & Construction Sector is among the identified sectors by the Government of Pakistan as the driver of economical growth. A spurt in activity in this sector unleashes a chain reaction in other allied industries. It is also said that no less than 60 industries are linked to construction & housing sector.
https://www.buildasia.net/page.php?id=143
Investment Potential in Housing Sector
There is an annual shortfall of 270,000 housing units at present while the backlog of around 7.0 million units is in addition. The Prime Minister has issued a number of policy guidelines under “HOUSING FOR ALL” program for launching housing schemes for Government employees & provision of infrastructure to the housing development schemes. The Government has identified housing and construction as one of the major drivers of growth and has undertaken a number of measures to give impetus to this Sector which have helped reviving construction activities in the Country. Some of these include:
â–ª Significant reduction in duties and taxes on import of building materials including steel & its products, Construction Machinery & Equipment
â–ª Removing uncertainties from the real estate market by computerizing ownership documents
â–ª Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan & China.
Huge investments are pouring in from international investors from UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, China etc. who have committed for US$ 43 billion on two islands of Bin Qasim, US$68 billion on a New City Project in Hawksbay, Karachi and are also executing mega housing projects in Lahore, Gwadar, Mangla & DHA Karachi and Islamabad. The new home financing schemes by local and foreign leasing and financial institutions, through aggressive marketing, are playing an important role for the growth in this sector. Also, there are numerous infrastructure development projects in progress in the Country that include a large number of flyovers, underpasses, highways, tunnels, dams, roads and industrial projects which have lead this industry to surpass its past status and glory.
Ideal Investment Opportunities for Overseas Entrepreneurs to develop infrastructure
Every big city of Pakistan solicits Mass Transit System. The roads, highways and motorways all over the Country, specifically from Gwadar to Central Asian Republic Countries is another sector for investment on BOT basis. The Government is looking forward for investors to build these on BOT, BLT, BOOT basis. Overseas Entrepreneurs have ideal opportunities to make joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs to invest in these projects on turnkey basis for very lucrative returns.
Furniture Industry - another potential sector for investment
Government plans to set up a Sector Development Company on the recommendations of the Furniture Strategy Working Group “SWOG” to boost furniture industry. At present, quality furniture is being produced mainly at Chiniot, Gujrat, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Karachi. Pakistan has the potential to export US$1 billion worth of furniture annually in the international market. Pakistan’s furniture industry can be transformed from cottage to a modern industry through training, upgrading supplies and imports, setting up a woodworking institute including testing labs of international standards in Pakistan.
The economic heart of Pakistan is an overcrowded and often violent megacity with an official population of 15 million (closer to 20 million if the urban sprawl beyond the city perimeter is included). Infrastructure has not kept pace with its rapid expansion, and basic amenities such as water have become a commodity for criminal gangs. The city is also an organisational centre for the Pakistani Taliban, who attacked the airport in 2014.
Bahria Town expands over Karachi’s eastern periphery, and offers residents a way to buy their way out of proximity to criminal gangs and terrorists, hectic traffic and power cuts. The wildly ambitious housing development is the brainchild of the property mogul Malik Riaz, one of the 10 wealthiest people in Pakistan and a close associate of the country’s former president Asif Ali Zardari.
The new city promises to “turn the vision of modern Pakistan into a reality”, with private and secure supplies of water, gas and electricity, as well as privately maintained roads. The developer, also called Bahria Town, says it is Asia’s largest private real estate company, employing 25,000 people. It has already built smaller planned communities outside Lahore and Islamabad, but the 45,000-acre Karachi project is on a different scale.
Once complete it will accommodate 1 million people, and is already home to a zoo, an 18-hole golf course and a theme park featuring fairground rides. The site is dotted with scaled-down imitations of world attractions such as the Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower. Smooth tarmac streets lined with palm trees and uniform villas eventually peter out into rocky construction sites, and unfinished properties dot the sides of the road. Construction has begun on a mosque complex that will be the third largest in the world.
Bahria Town’s website offers Karachiites who can afford it the chance to live “amidst soft grass and pure class”, advertising its luxury villas as “Pakistan’s first lifestyle community developed around a huge green area inspired by Central Park, New York, with a replica of Taj Mahal”. The residences on offer range from apartments to standalone villas to luxury farmhouses, at a range of prices targeted not just at Pakistan’s elite but at the middle classes too.
It makes sense to buy here because it looks like the future
Asif Munir, prospective buyer
Although the vast development is only part-built, more than half of the plots are reportedly sold. Some sections are already inhabited, and facilities including a large modern hospital, the theme park and Pizza Hut and Burger King restaurants are already open.
For many Pakistanis, the modern convenience offered by Bahria Town is an attractive proposition. “Since before my son was born, I have been saving to one day buy him a residence for his own family – and now it makes sense to buy here because it looks like the future,” says Asif Munir, a small-business owner from Karachi who is considering purchasing a plot. “The cost of the apartment includes not just reliable water and light but safety because it is far away from criminal gangs.”
But the development has been mired in controversy since its inception in 2014, most notably over allegations of illegal land appropriation. In May last year the supreme court ruled that much of the land had been illegally procured. In December, it ordered a halt on all construction. As the case works its way through court alongside a simultaneous case in the National Accountability Bureau anti-corruption court, villagers who have lived in this area for centuries are feeling the impact.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/217833-pakistan-china-sign-deal-for-two-mega-residential-projects-in-gwadar
ISLAMABAD: The China Pakistan Investment Corporation (CPIC) has signed a construction agreement with China’s state-owned mega construction conglomerate, BIDR to materialise Gwadar’s two mega residential and commercial projects.
The agreement was signed by CPIC Global Founding Board member Syed Zeeshaan Shah and BIDR Deputy Director and Chief Design Engineer Liu Bochun at a ceremony in Islamabad.
The agreement covers CPIC’s mega projects in Gwadar spread across 10 million square feet of prime residential and commercial real estate outfits, the International Port City and China Pak Golf Estates – the two approved projects by Gwadar Development Authority (GDA).
CPIC Global is the world’s first China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) -centric real estate developer with current under-development projects worth in excess of $500 million.
Speaking on the occasion, Shah said: “This is a momentous occasion for us. We are setting a new standard for community development in Pakistan and working with a global leader like BIDR will enable us to deliver our projects on time and on budget.”
On the current on-ground situation in Gwadar, Shah said the progress over the last 12 months in Gwadar has been phenomenal.
“The port and economic free zone are both fully operational now and 30 companies from Pakistan and China have committed to investing almost $500 million to develop their industries there. The dream of a Gwadar becoming a key economic hub of Asia is not far away now,” he added.
On the subject of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to China, Shah said that the Chinese have invested in Pakistan at a time when others snubbed it. “China and Pakistan are all-weather friends and China reiterated this by committing to help Pakistan with the balance of payment situation.”
He added, “The trip was particularly encouraging for Gwadar with both sides reiterating the significance of Gwadar as the central pillar of CPEC and agreeing to further expedite development of the port and its auxiliary projects.”
A privatised city is easier to build because it removes power from people and communities and centralises it into the hands of one person or corporation.
https://scroll.in/article/920031/across-the-world-privately-owned-cities-have-everything-except-accountability
This is Bahria Town Karachi, an ambitious housing development ultimately planned to cover more than 45,000 acres of land , which is about the same size as Washington, D.C. In Pakistan, its name is synonymous with one man: property developer Malik Riaz, one of the ten richest people in the country and the city’s ultimate proprietor. He’s built similar planned neighborhoods near Islamabad and Lahore.
The site is still under construction, but sections are already inhabited, with hundreds more plots sold before they’ve even been built. The proposition is clear: this is how to buy your way out of urban chaos. Karachi, a city of over 15 million, is frequently the site of conflict, from terror attacks to gang wars, and it also suffers chronic shortages of water, gas, and electricity. Bahria Town promises its own private supply of these basic amenities, so when residents purchase a property here, they are also theoretically paying to avoid power cuts and enjoy regular garbage collections.
Bahria Town is vast in scope, but Malik Riaz is not the only wealthy individual to have ambitions of building his own city. In India, billionaire Ajit Gulabchand started construction of Lavasa in 2010, claiming it would be India’s first newly-built hill station since Independence. Situated two hours from the IT hub of Pune and four hours from Mumbai, the still-incomplete town is modeled on an Italian fishing village. Like Bahria Town, it markets itself as an ordered and calm alternative to the chaos of India’s rapidly-expanding cities.
Driving around Bahria Town Karachi, I couldn’t shake the sense of being in a parallel universe. It was not just the surreal sculptures – bears, tea cups, flowers – in the middle of the roundabouts, nor the miniature imitation Parthenon. There was something about the identikit apartment blocks and villas, the uniformly-planted palm trees, that was strangely generic. It reminded me of something that Alexandra Schwartz recently wrote in The New Yorker: “That vision of luxury is all about a frictionless sameness: being able to do and eat and buy the same things, in the same kinds of settings, to the tune of the same ambient music, no matter where on the globe one may be.”
She was writing about Hudson Yards, a controversial 28-acre collection of glass towers and high-end retailers on the far western edge of Manhattan. But her words could equally have applied to Bahria Town, which – from the Gulf-style palm trees that line the streets to the ad copy on its website comparing its green spaces to New York City’s Central Park – stakes its appeal on offering a globally-homogenised vision of city living.
Before zeroing in on Emaar Panorama Karachi, permit us to take you there through Emaar Crescent Bay, which is situated next to the water, right at the border of DHA Phase 8. The area is just one of the hotspots of Karachi . The famed food street known as Do Darya is only 5 minutes’ drive away in addition to the DHA Golf Club.
https://medium.com/@dandriyalritik/emaar-panorama-residences-at-karachi-pakistan-8eaa294aa233
It will also be just steps from the shore and the waterfront promenade, once Panorama Tower is finished. Additionally it is to some of the schools and hospitals in the city, making the place of Emaar Panorama Karachi convenient for residents. You could even shop for all of your essentials at Dolmen Mall, Clifton 10 minutes’ drive off — that has a branch of Carrefour, which makes it much easier.
Emaar Panorama Karachi Features
As its name suggests, investing in Emaar Panorama Karachi comes with the best views in town, such as sunsets and sunrises waiting to greet you every day.
On the other hand, the yield on your investment is limited to natural beauty and views. To the contrary, these are just icing on the cake.
emaar panorama residences karachi
Besides the above-mentioned features of the apartment complex, here are a few of the luxury amenities at Emaar Panorama that every resident will have the ability to indulge in, for the content of their heart.
There are a number of characteristics of Emaar Panorama Karachi which make this job a appealing and lucrative investment consideration to the next real estate investment.
Gated Community
24/7 Security & CCTV Surveillance
Card-controlled Access for Vehicles & Pedestrians
Infinity Swimming Pool
Kids’ Play & Party Areas
https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/new-faldo-course-in-pakistan-set-for-official-opening
Rumanza Golf Club in Multan, Pakistan, will officially open its new Faldo Design course this week.
The club, part of a new 9,000-acre community developed by the Defence Housing Authority of Multan, will also have a six-hole par-three layout and a practice range.
“The course should challenge the top players from the back tees but be eminently playable for all other standards of golfer from the other tees,” said Andy Haggar, lead architect at Faldo Design. “The forward tees will make the course short enough for beginners and juniors. Fairways are quite generous to help golfers keep the ball in play, whilst at the same time, the shaping of the fairways and placement of the hazards challenge the better players to put the ball in the right place.
“The greens are designed within the entire strategy of the hole they belong to. Often the strategy of the hole is created with the green’s design as the starting point. Here, each green features a range of pin placements that will be either hard, medium or easy. There is noticeable movement in the greens, but the surface areas are large enough to accommodate that movement. As with the fairways, it is about being in the right place on the green to give yourself the best chance of a good score.”
The layout, which is over 7,500 yards from the back tees, has three distinct sections, characterised by desert, trees and water. The latter revolves around a water storage lake at the centre of the course.
Faldo Design has worked with GEO Foundation to make the development sustainable. The design team has for example, retained existing fruit trees and deras (mud brick dwellings) to ensure the course has a strong local identity.
Read more: “The closing three holes will be spectacular,” Haggar told GCA during construction in 2020.
“On the playing side, we wanted to create an interesting, strategic and memorable golfing experience,” said Haggar. “Once we had scraped off the top surface of material on this very flat site, we found pure sand. That moved us towards creating something of an inland links-style golf course. Alongside some links-like shaping, revetted bunkers seemed the obvious choice.
“The bunkers are revetted in traditional style using EcoBunker, with turf rolled down over the edge. We also used EcoBunker to create a revetted edge to certain sections of the waste areas adjacent to the fairways, which provides another nice feature of the course, and which complements the bunkering.”
Sir Nick Faldo will, along with tour pros Rafa Cabrero-Bello, Charley Hull, Graeme McDowell and Mel Reid, attend the official opening event on 25 February.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2255574/bahria-town-unaffected-by-monsoon-downpour
According to a statement, there were no water puddles in the gated community's streets nor overflowing gutters causing inconvenience for its residents during the heavy downpour. The streets remained dry as the rainwater quickly drained away.
Besides, the locality was not subjected to prolonged power cuts following the rainfall, which otherwise has been a norm in Karachi. As a result, residents were able to continue their daily activities despite the heavy rain.
The statement added that BTK has a separate sewerage treatment plant that runs around the clock and is being used to recycle water so that it may be used for construction and horticulture needs, as well as conserving water.
Furthermore, it has constructed 12 dams to collect rainwater, with the capacity to hold 167.6 million gallons of water, showcasing its efforts to utilise and conserve national resources.
https://pakistanpropertyservices.com.pk/bahria-town-karachi-2-all-you-need-to-know/
Booking of Bahria Town Karachi 2 will start on 5th January 2023. Investors should be ready to invest in Bahria Town Karachi 2 to invest in the property of their choice. It is a golden opportunity for investors who want to invest in Bahria Town Karachi but cannot do so for any reason. They are again getting a chance to invest with the developers of their choice.
Bahria Town Karachi 2
Bahria Management is well-known for the amenities and facilities it provides. Bahria Management will follow the same international standards in Bahria Town Karachi 2. One of its main facilities is its location in the prime spot, which is very easy to access from different sides.
Bahria Town Karachi 2 Location:
Bahria Town Karachi 2 or BTK2 is located ideally 30 km from Bahria Town Karachi near Nooriayabad on M9 Motorway. This location is easy to access from different landmarks of the area, like the new Karachi Airport and DHA Phase1.
Bahria Town Karachi 2 and Bahria Town Karachi will be developed as Twin cities. Bahria Town Karachi will join Bahria Town Karachi 2 through the back gate.
Nearby areas:
M-10 Motorway is almost 30 minutes away
Jinnah International Airport is nearly 30 minutes away
The super-Highway toll plaza is nearly 34 minutes away
Malir Cantonment is nearly 50 minutes away
Gulzar E Hijri Scheme 33 is almost 55 minutes away
Dream World Family Resort is nearly 20 minutes away
Karachi Northern Bypass is nearly 39 minutes away
Al Ghafoor Green City is roughly 45 minutes away
North Town Residency Gadap Town is nearly 50 minutes away
Memon Medical Institute Hospital is almost 45 minutes away
Shah Faisal Town is almost 40 minutes away
Fiesta Family Water Park is nearly 30 minutes away
Development status:
The development of Bahria Town Karachi 2 is 40% completed. The gatehouse’s grey structure and roads with green belts on the 40% area are 100% finished now.
BTK2 Rates | Bahria Town Karachi 2 Rates | Payment Plan, Location and Map
These roads feature street lights too. The management has promised to complete the rest of the development within no time. The development time for Bahria Town Karachi 2 will be less than Bahria Town Karachi.
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Sector A Bahria Town Karachi 2 will be the priority for the developers to develop.
Successful developers:
Bahria Management has always offered projects offering luxurious and contemporary facilities for their investors and huge profits. They are well-reputed among investors, who want to invest with them to increase their profits. Bahria’s management has a great demand in their market. Each of the previous projects has been completely sold out.
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Investing with Bahria’s management is the priority of the investors.
Approval:
Bahria Town Karachi 2 is already approved by SDA and SBCA. All the documentation is 100% complete for the process of leasing Bahria Town Karachi 2. Investors can rent their property after completing their payment too.
Limited plots available:
Bahria Town Karachi 2 is offering limited plots for investment. The investors will have to hurry to book their properties as the demand will be higher and the supply of the properties will be low. Invest in Bahria Town Karachi 2 as soon as the booking opens.
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Considering these project factors, it can be the investment that delivers unmatched dividends and is a golden opportunity.
DHA Phase 8, Defence, Karachi
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