TRIPOLI – Work is to restart on the twin-tower Al Waha project in Tripoli, it has been reported in the UAE. Abu Dhabi-based real-estate developer Al Maabar announced that the residential and office project on the Airport Road, 10 minutes from central Tripoli, is back on track. “We stopped tendering for the project at Al Waha shortly after the Arab Spring, but it gives me great pleasure that the $200 million (Dh734 million) Al Waha project is back on track”, the managing director of Al Maabar, Yousuf Mohammad Al-Nowais was reported by Gulf News as saying. The project, with a 40,000-square-metre footprint will create 145,000 square metres of office, retail, residential and hotel space. One tower comprises the hotel and apartments, the other offices and a shopping mall. “The project will include a luxury hotel with 20 floors and total built-up area of 36,536 square metres comprising 196 serviced apartments, serviced office spaces, health club, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, fitness area and a spa. It will also entail a conference and banqueting areas, a ballroom and multipurpose facilities for up to 800 people,” said Al-Nowais. The 23-storey office tower will have built-up area of 56,000 square metres. There will also be 15,000 square metres for a hypermarket, restaurants, fast food outlets and other retailers. The project is a 50-50 joint venture between Al Maabar and the state-owned Libyan Investment & Development Company (LIDCO). According to Emhemmed El Ghoula, Al Maabar's Libya Director, it is the first major Abu Dhabi development project in Libya. The lead design consultant is Atkins Middle East. Al Maabar says that the design is based on buildings in the desert oasis of Ghadames altough it is difficult to see the link. When the project was initially announced in December 2009 it was costed at $375 million, was more than 50 percent larger and included a five-screen cinema. It has not been announced if the cinema is still included. The announcement of the restart up coincided with the visit to the UAE of Deputy Prime Minister Awad Al-Barasi. – Libya Herald
