US-headquartered project management firm Hill International will manage what is thought to be the Gulf region’s first affordable housing public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, in Bahrain.
The $450 million scheme will see 2,800 social and affordable housing units built in Al Madina Al Shamaliya and Al Luwzi.
Hill’s client is the Ithmar Development Co. and the three-year contract has an estimated value to Hill of approximately $4.3m, the company said.
The population of the small island state in the Persian Gulf nearly doubled between 2001 and 2010, from 650,000 to 1.23m, according to census figures.
Hill said this was the largest housing project ever to be developed in Bahrain in partnership with the private sector and that it is expected to set a new benchmark for housing projects across the Middle East.
"This type of PPP initiative is a first for the Kingdom of Bahrain and for the GCC region," said Mohammed Al Rais, Middle East MD for Hill’s Project Management Group.
