Arriyadh Development Company (ARDCO) has finalized a deal to acquire a commercial building in Al Malqa district north of Riyadh, the company announced on Saturday. Strategically located near the intersection of King Fahd and King Salman roads in one of Riyadh's fastest-growing districts, the SR68 million tower is fully leased out to institutional tenants and is just slightly south of Riyadh Avenues development project. It is a commercial, revenue-generating office tower built on a 3,346m 2 land and comprises 12 office floors, ground floor, mezzanine and two basements. The 10,500m2 net leasable area in addition to the advertising screen on top of the building expected to generate annual revenue of SR14.3 million. "ARDCO was established by the virtue of a Royal Decree three decades ago to realize the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman when he was the governor of Riyadh Province, which translated into unprecedent development projects in the capital," said Jehad Alkadi, chief executive officer of ARDCO. "The company is determined to move forward banking on this rich legacy towards realizing Kingdom's Vision 2030 and the strategy that the Crown Prince had set out for the Riyadh city, highlights of which had been announced in 2021. "The acquisition comes as part of the board of directors' plans to diversify the company's real estate and investments portfolio. Given the building's prime location, it is expected to help achieve the company's investment targets, bolster its assets, and become one of many upcoming catalysts of its sustainable growth." "We are currently working on enhancing the performance of our assets under real estate portfolio," he went on. "We expect to reach our target returns in the coming years underpinned by our acquisition of assets with attractive returns and by improving the performance of our existing real estate assets. "This in turn, will enable us to enhance the average return on assets concurrently with the chances of improving the performance of the commercial building in the future through an effective management of these investment assets." The building's investment appeal stems from its long-term lease contracts that range between five to 10 years with top institutional financial and commercial corporations. Established by the virtue of a Royal Decree M/2 on July 28, 1993, ARDCO is a Public Joint Stock company that was founded with the intent to develop Qasr Al-Hukm area and adjacent developments in the center of Riyadh. The mandate of the company has since expanded to include other developments across the capital, including several within the public good sector. The company operates four self-developed public good projects that employ more than 150 qualified talents and serve more than 20 million citizens and expatriates through over 2,000 tenants. — SG
