$5.5bn Doha revamp project set to start in Q4

Work on phase one of a $5.5bn project to revamp part of Qatar's capital city will begin in the last quarter of this year, Dohaland officials have announced.

The 35-hectare mixed use Heart of Doha project will eventually be completed in 2016 in five phases with the first one being financially supported by Qatar Foundation, of which Dohaland, the developers, is a subsidiary.

Demolition work is already underway for the first phase, which is divided into stages 1A and 1B, as part of an ambitious effort to “rediscover the architecture” of the Doha of the 1950s.

“A local company with its parent office in the UAE is already carrying out the “enabling work” in Phase 1A as construction will begin in the fourth quarter of 2009,” Dohaland projects director Mohamed Masoud al-Marri said in comments published by Gulf Times on Wednesday.

“Phase 1A will be completed in 2012. It will be a commercial zone housing government offices, just like in the old days.”

Construction for phase 1B will begin in the first quarter of 2010 and end in the third quarter of 2013, the official added.

The master plan drawn up by Dohaland shows the project having 226 buildings, a mix of three to 30-storeys high.

On completion, the integrated city will be able to accommodate a population of more than 27,000.

The proposed amenities at the new development include centralised district cooling, gas network, a vacuum waste disposal system, a dedicated cycle-way and a tram service to Souq Waqif.