Effective and inspiring leadership is always constructive and helps in building up a success story for the organization or the group concerned. This is best exemplified by Mr Gagan Suri, the CEO of Bahrain Bay who has led Bahrain’s one of the largest construction and real-estate company to ever increasing feats and holistic accomplishments that are aimed to create Bahrain Bay as the future of Bahrain. BTW seizes a few minutes of this industrious leader to understand him and his vision for Bahrain Bay.
Tell us briefly about yourself and your association with Bahrain Bay (BB).
I am a Board Member and CEO of Bahrain Bay and been doing this role for about 2+ years now. I came to Bahrain about 2 years ago and got involved with the amazing development. I was asked to revive the development and kick-start new sub developments in the public realm along with food and beverage options for Bahrain Bay. So, far we have had great success in the last two years.
Tell us about the significant architectural projects undertaken by BB under your able leadership.
In the last two years, we have had Bin Faqeeh commence construction of three outstanding residential towers in Bahrain Bay and four new sub developers working closely with us on new designs. AXA Insurance is close to the finish line now and will commence construction soon.
What have been the major challenges faced by BB and how have they been overcome?
The obvious challenge has been to push our sub developers to develop. Our persistence and patience is paying off and now we have healthy activity in Bahrain Bay. Whyndam Hotel or the CIH tower as many people know it as also picked up pace and is about to open their doors to guests soon. The second challenge is to create a meaningful public realm with food and beverage and attract footfall. That we are doing now. We are targeting opening a 1.5 km waterfront walkway for Bahrain National Day 2016. Following that, we will roll out a plan of opening public parks and restaurants in late 2017.
What according to you is the future of real estate in Bahrain?
Short and medium term, the real estate will drag its feet a bit because of the economic environment in GCC, but I don’t foresee any decline because Bahrain benefits from the fundaments which drive real estate upwards — location, residential demand, tourist demand and joint effort of multiple government agencies lead by EDB to promote Bahrain and bring foreign capital and business into Bahrain. I see tremendous effort put in by the Ministry of Tourism in promoting Bahrain.
What are the major projects of BB that are in the pipeline?
Bin Faqeeh, Whymdam Hotel, AXA Insurance regional HQ, JW Marriott, WAFRA etc….we have a healthy pipeline for the nest 3 to 5 years
Bahrain Bay had recently hosted artist El Seed in a wall painting venture to bring arts closer to the people. How is this venture aligned to BB’s goals and objectives?
What distinguishes a good development from a great development is the inclusion of art, architecture, landscaping and public realm including food and beverage into the master plan and implementing that plan. El Seed was an obvious and great choice. We had one huge water tank and two Electrical substations with huge and stark empty walls which I saw as huge empty canvas screaming for an artist to come and paint on them! With the blessings of HH Shaikha Mai, HH Shaikh Nawaf, HH Shaikh Rashid and our Chairman Mr Atif Abdul Malik, we were able to commission this amazing artist. Once this artwork is complete, this will place Bahrain Bay not only on the Bahrain map but also on the Regional and International maps! I can see tourists from faraway lands visiting Bahrain to make a special trip to Bahrain Bay and admire El Seed’s artwork.
Given Bahrain’s geographic location, what is the future of Bahrain’s expansion in the future and more architectural projects, thereby?
We hope to develop Bahrain Bay II soon and take it to the next level of excellence! Bahrain Bay is the future of Bahrain.
While embarking upon building a shopping arcade or a hotel, how does Bahrain Bay ensure to channelize roads in order to avoid traffic congestion or blocks?
Traffic study and assessment is an integral part of our planning. Ourselves as the master developer and all local authorities involved pay a lot of attention to this aspect. In fact, both traffic and parking are areas we carefully assess to ensure proper flow.
What is BB’s architectural dream for Bahrain? Would it retain its flavor of being a fine balance of the old and the new architecture, or would it be just another Dubai with countless high-rises?
Bahrain Bay is a modern mixed use development. It will stand apart because each of our developers inspire and challenge the next one and we only get better with the overall outcome. It will not look like a concrete and glass jungle, but a modern well designed mixed use development where people love to work and live. When we are done, it will be the most desirable and thriving community in Bahrain.
What is Bahrain Bay’s message to the people of Bahrain?
Believe in your dream and work on it to make it reality!
