Al Wa'ab City shares development expertise with Stanford and Qatar University students

Following a seminar, which included presentations on project management and infrastructure, the students were given a guided tour of Al Wa'ab City's villa construction site that is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

Ebrahim Al-Mohannadi, Vice President - Project Management, welcomed the candidates and briefed them on Al Wa'ab City, regarded as one of the largest privately-held real estate projects in the region.

Carla Issa, VP of Marketing & Sales at Al Wa'ab City and Jason Morris, Senior Project Manager at Cansult Maunsell AECOM gave further insights into the development.

Issa discussed highlights of the major components of Al Wa'ab City's marketing and sales plans.

Ebrahim Al-Mohannadi said:

"The visit of the Qatari and international students to Al Wa'ab was an opportunity for them to learn more about the issues related to bringing a development concept to fruition; including the balancing of goals, objectives, regulatory constraints, and fiscal realities. These seminars and field visits can play an instrumental role in enhancing the knowledge and know-how of students by presenting a practical side to their theoretical studies. Al Wa'ab City is at the height of cutting-edge masterplanning and we are confident that the students of Stanford and Qatar University will immensely benefit from the experience."

Dr. Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, Student Affairs Consultant at Qatar University said: "The direct marketing plan of Al Wa'ab City, which intends to sell villas to GCC nationals, was perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the visit, especially for Qatar University students. Questions from the QU group revolved around culturally appropriate designs of the villas, gardens and privacy fences, giving the Al Wa'ab City team a taste of the thought-processes of the young generation in Qatar and their expectations."

The students were presented with a detailed overview on health & safety challenges and issues at construction sites in addition to project planning approvals.

A presentation on the project's tenders and finances was given by Brij Singhal, Al Wa'ab City's Chief Financial Officer.

A Q&A session followed the series of presentations where students had the opportunity to gain expert advice and insights into the latest industry trends that are of relevance to their curricula.

"At Al Wa'ab City, we are committed to supporting the educational systems and furthering the knowledge base of the community we operate in. This commitment stems from Al Wa'ab City's corporate social responsibility. This initiative is only the beginning. Al Wa'ab City will continue to offer its professional expertise to academic institutions for the benefit of the region's future generations." said Carla Issa.

The visiting students said the tour helped in providing them with a holistic perspective on how large-scale, world-class development projects are designed, managed and implemented in keeping with stakeholders' expectations, in addition to the finances and the tradeoffs of different project finance structures.

Al Wa'ab City is Qatar's first family-planned community and a multi-use development conveniently located along one of Doha's main arterial roads and in close proximity to some of Doha's major academic institutions and sporting facilities.

Al Wa'ab City integrates a wide variety of housing styles and options, small- and large-scale retail, low-rise offices, health facilities, and a world-class 200-room luxury hotel surrounding the 44,000 sqm stunning urban piazza - "Barahat Al Wa'ab".

Al Wa'ab City will be home to more than 8,000 people in approximately 2,000 residential units.

The development spreads over an area of approximately 1.25 million square meters with over 10,700 underground parking lots.

This gives Al Wa'ab City one of the lowest population density ratios of any new major development in the country. Al Wa'ab City is expected to be substantially completed in 2010.