KAEC eyes $5 bln investment in new entertainment district

The total investment in Lagoona District, the latest integrated leisure and entertainment component of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), is expected to reach SAR 18.5 billion ($5 billion), a senior company executive told Argaam.

The 8-million square metre district will have 18 attractions, including two theme parks, a motor park and over 2,100 hotel rooms.

Lagoona Motorpark, a component of the first phase of the district, will open in September this year, Mohammed S Ballout, senior director and head of Leisure and Retail Operations, KAEC, said in an interview on the sidelines of the "Theme parks and Entertainment Development Forum Middle East" in Dubai on Tuesday.

“The motor park, which is currently under construction, will be hosting world-class sporting events. We are in discussions with the General Sports Authority on the kind of championships that it will host,” he revealed.

Designed by Alex Wurz, an Austrian former professional racing driver, the Lagoona Motorpark is likely to host Formula  2, 3, and 4; Porsche Series Cup; Single Seater Races; Drifting; GT Series and Blancpain.

In addition to the motor park, the first phase will include a 600-room fully integrated water park resort.

“Resort is in the design phase, and we are currently working on the funding as well,” Ballout said.

At present, KAEC has between 40 and 50 leisure projects in operation with nearly 1,000 hotel rooms. It has recently created a destination management office to focus on creating events and attracting visitor internally.

“Last year we received around 500,000 visitors, and that’s only with the current set up excluding the Lagoon District. We are aiming to achieve 750,000 visitors this year,” he added.

The phase two of the district will include two theme parks - one targeting 13 and above, while the other will focus on children.

“We are in discussions with many operators, but we are now laying down the initial phase of feasibility and master planning. We are looking at a lot of partnerships as well with the government to take this into motion,” he disclosed.

When asked on how KAEC was looking to fund these projects, Ballout said: “We are laying out the infrastructure and focusing on phase 1 of Lagoona and moving forward. We will try to attract third party investors to come and invest given the infrastructure we have and given the integration of a fully integrated city. We are also relying on government funding as a number of initiatives have been announced to fund such projects."

The Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority said last year that it plans to invest SAR 240 billion ($64 billion) in the entertainment sector over the next ten years.