Qatar’s Barwa to launch $4.9 billion Golf City project

Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate Co. plans to launch an 18 billion riyal ($4.94 billion) mixed-use Golf City project a head of the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, the company’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

The project, located within the planned coastal Lusail City north of the capital Doha, will include 4,000 residential units and a golf course, and is expected to be ready by 2018, Group Chief Executive Abdulla Al Subaie told Reuters in an interview.

The project will be financed through a combination of off-plan sales and sub-development, he said.

Residential demand in the Gulf Arab state is expected to increase as projects for the 2022 World Cup tournament come onstream, he added.

“The correction has stopped. We still have oversupply, but demand is picking up quarter by quarter. Its highly correlated with the award of big construction projects.

“The new projects to be awarded by the government will require many expats from outside to move to Qatar, and then demand will pick up significantly,” Subaie said.

Last year, Barwa laid off approximately 90 employees in a restructuring move, sources said.