3 northwestern part of the Holy Mosque, mostly on the top of Mount Quaikaan, is also under construction. This project involves a total area of 43 hectares and stems on the expansion of the northern areas of the Grand Mosque as well as the establishment of a housing project, hotels, commercial and service efforts that will benefit the entire region. The aim is to provide full services and public utilities including roads, parking lots, waiting areas, and prayer extension arenas. 36 hectares of the total space is devoted to the building, representing about 85.1 % of the total area, after demolishing blocks proposed to be allocated as an extension to the courtyards of the Haram al-Sharif.
In some areas, especially those near the royal campus, the price of a square meter of land rises each week
King Abdul-Aziz Road Project( The Parallel Road)
The project extends from the western entrance of the city of Makkah at the intersection of the third roundabout with Jeddah highway going east to the first roundabout at the foot of Jabal Omar. The project area is a massive 1.2 million square meters.
The project plans to create a new western entrance that befits the holiness and sanctity of Makkah by separating the roads. It will service visitors by providing a road directly to and from the Grand Mosque.
In addition to the development of the structured movement of vehicles and pedestrians in Makkah and the arrival and unloading at the campus area, the project also aims to provide development opportunities in construction and investment outside the Haram area. It will help support the strategic plans of the country to develop some of the slum areas.
Jabal Al-Kaaba project
This project is located in the northwestern part of Haram al-Sharif at the intersection of Umm Al-Qura with Mount Kaaba and covers an area about 46.000 square meters. It is at a distance of 400 meters from the Grand Mosque. Mount Kaaba is located to the east and Umm Al-Qura borders on the South.
They intend to build a series of hotel towers, shops, public facilities and pedestrian tunnels. The project has been divided into
Increase in real estate prices in areas of Makkah from the year 1990 to 2012
SAR / m 2
6,00,000
5,00,000
4,00,000
3,00,000
2,00,000
1,00,000
10,000
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 phases and execution of stage one has been initiated.
Investment size of 750 billion riyals results in a significant increase in property prices
1997 1998
It is estimated that the size of the investment in Makkah has reached 750 billion riyals, but that figure is projected to increase further in light of the significant real estate growth in the city. This is happening due in large part to the construction projects around the Grand Mosque and the central region.
Leading to a dramatic rise of property prices, current events have prompted some experts
Al Haram expansion and surrounding developments
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 to describe what is happening as quite irrational. In some areas, especially those near the royal campus, the price of a square meter of land rises each week. All this new construction came at the expense of old housing constructions. The expropriation of 1000 estates was needed to expand the northern area of the mosque at a cost of 6 billion riyals. These actions resulted in huge income awards for the former inhabitants while in turn decreasing the number of living units and increasing prices of the estates. Many of the expropriated property owners are looking to take advantage of this situation and go to the areas near the campus to invest in new housing schemes.
DORCHESTER April- 2013 55