King Abdullah Economic City/Saudi Arabia – February 21st, 2010 :


Hawadi Village’s display of a proposed residential community was awarded “Best Virtual Reality Experience” at the 2010 annual exhibition of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in the state capital of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Hawadi Village is the planned community for middle-income families in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). It is the recent winner of “The Best Residential-Future Award” at ‘Cityscape Jeddah 2009’. Hawadi Village made an impact on the 1,000 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors at this year’s NAHB event, ensuring that the progress being made at KAEC is globally recognized and that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is securely at the forefront of design, planning and construction in the real-estate industry.

Hawadi Village is being built on 9 million square meters of land and will comprise 22,000 residential units made up of a diverse range of apartments, townhomes and villas for up to 60,000 residents. The village is designed to give home owners a strong sense of community belonging. Its amenities, including convenience shops, recreation facilities and numerous mosques, which will be built in each neighborhood.

In response to the award, Mr. Fahd Al-Rasheed, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Emaar, The Economic City (EEC), the Tadawul-listed company developing KAEC said, “This is yet another significant achievement for Saudi Arabia. Winning the NAHB and the Cityscape Jeddah awards are indicative of the continued success in reaching important milestones towards the progress of KAEC.”

Hawadi Village’s development team include 300 specialists from 15 global architectural and engineering firms. Mr. Al-Rasheed added, “We are designing and constructing Hawadi with the vision that premium living standards are to be within the financial means of Saudi working families.”

Emaar E.C., now based in KAEC, had handed over in 2009 a wide range of residential units at Bay La Sun, land plots in the Industrial Valley, offices at the business park as well as a wide variety of retail space through out the city. A large number of companies and organizations have already started carrying out their daily operations from KAEC, as the first wave of residents are settling down in the city, becoming the core of KAEC's future communities. KAEC is coming to life as a city.

NAHB, based in Washington D.C., is a trade association that promotes the policies that make housing a national priority in the United States. Since 1942, NAHB has been serving its members, the housing industry, and the public at large.