October contract award for Bahrain housing project

Bahrain's capital city, Manama, is one of many areas in need of more affordable housing.

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Consortiums that have prequalified for a 4,500-unit affordable housing project in Bahrain will found out who has won the main contract in the next two months, according to the project's technical advisors.

Speaking exclusively to Construction Week, Mott MacDonald's divisional director John Seed said the main contract would be awarded in October to one of three consortiums who prequalified for work earlier this year.

"Three consortiums have prequalified for work on the project," he said, but declined to name who they were.

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"The government started the proceedings for this development towards of the middle of 2009. They're at a critical stage of the tendering process at the moment, but are likely to announce the winner of the main contract this October."

The project itself, which is being launched in response to a high demand for affordable housing in the region, will involve the construction of thousands of residential units across three sites in the North of the country, according to Seed.

To effectively manage a project of this scale, he explained how each consortium is made up of 10-20 companies, including developers, several contractors, funders, facilities management companies (who will manage the project for 25 years) and a design team including architects and quantity surveyors.

Other advisory teams to the development include Ernst and Young, the project's financial advisors, and Freshfields, the project's legal directors.