Range Hospitality's: residences hotel project in Karbala under way

Range Hospitality, a progressive Dubai based real estate developer with a successful track record, has invested in the religious tourism sector in the city of Karbala, Iraq. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday at Karachi, Shafaat Hashmi, Business Development Director for Pakistan, said that Range Hospitality's Al Rawdatain Residences hotel project in Karbala, Iraq is successfully underway.
This 12-storey hotel project was launched by Range Hospitality during August, 2010. Range Hospitality has already sold a substantial part of the Al Rawdatain Residences. This property offers Shariah compliant fractional ownership and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
He said that by 2015 Range Hospitality aims to operate both 3-Star and 4-Star hotels in Najaf. The developer has already received a number of inquiries from regional partners to consider joint ventures in Medina. The group also intends to develop and operate a series of hotels in Mecca to cater to the needs of the entire Muslim audience.
"The group always looks for potential markets and we found that Iraq offers a very favourable foreign investment environment making it a lucrative market for investment. Thus finding a gap in luxury accommodation across all spectrums, we went ahead with this large development to cater to over 20 million pilgrims who visit Karbala every year, and face acute shortage of residences", he informed.
Al Rawdatain Residences suites will offer 24-hour security, crèche services, business centre, in-suite dining, four restaurants offering a large variety of cuisines and child care facilities, Shafat said.
Designed by Dewan Architects and Engineers, the UAE-based firm behind projects such as Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi and the Baghdad Rotana Hotel, the new hotel with 624 apartments, will be the largest five-star hotel and residences in Iraq. The hotel is conveniently located just one kilometre from the holy shrines, he informed
Range Hospitality has secured funding from the sale of off-plan Shariah compliant product over the past 18 months. The group has also an Escrow account with Standard Chartered, which means that the depositors should not be wary of their investment. Shafaat added that as the political situation in Iraq is settling, pilgrim numbers are expected to swell and the city's present facilities cannot cater to their needs.
"Considering Pakistan as a potential and prosperous market with a positive outlook, we are promoting the project here as well to people from all walks of life. And we are sure that the property will attract Pakistanis with 50-year leasehold that Range Hospitality has instituted in the project" he said and added thus as the religious tourism market is one of the fastest growing sectors, we have taken the lead and are confident that people will appreciate Range Hospitality's offering.
He said Range Hospitality already has offices in Dubai, London, Karbala, Bahrain, KSA and Oman. Range Hospitality will shortly be opening offices in Lahore, Islamabad and Multan within this quarter and plan to expand Range Hospitality's operations in other urban and semi-urban cities across Pakistan.