The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) said yesterday that it has executed the best solution in the case of the Golden Gate project, to save the interests of the developer, investors, and buyers.
In a statement provided after the regulator’s board of directors met virtually, it provided that the steps implemented were aimed at putting the project on the right road towards finishing while making sure that the home-buyers’ rights came first, even as it provided them that their investment was safe in the escrow account of the project.
On December 27 the previous year, RERA sent an email to investors in the Golden Gate project declaring it was canceling licenses (LLC No. DVT-201903/0014 and D201810/0066) which was given to Golden Gate Developers ‘in view of serious and repeated violations committed by the developer, and failure to fulfill legal obligations towards the regulator, the buyers and the project, and failure to implement the directives of RERA to address the violations despite ample time being provided for the same’.
The authority had provided that it was compelled to take the step after exhausting all the legally prescribed measures and notifications, including the imposition of fines and the brief suspension of the venture permit for a time of a quarter of a year.
On the same day, Golden Gate emailed its customers stating it had filed a court appeal against the authority’s decision of September 10, 2020, when its license was suspended for the quarter of a year as a result of ‘violations’, as per the provisions of law 27/2017 spreading real estate sector regulations. The result of the court appeal is not yet known.
RERA had provided Golden Gate two licenses: A developer’s license, which is need for changing and qualifying developers, and an off-plan sale development license.
Several steps by the GDN to contact the company have gone unattended.
Launched in November 2018, the $130 million project in the core of Bahrain Bay, is a joint endeavor of Bahraini-based Kooheji Golden Gate and Indian land organizations Ajmera Realty and Mayfair Housing.
The 140,000sqm development contains two towers with 45 and 53 storeys and 746 apartments.
The project is counted as the tallest residential structure in the kingdom, with 999 car parking bays, spread over seven floors.
Work on the project begins in 2019 after the developers stated Golden Gate had become the first in the kingdom to provide fully RERA-complaint contracts to the end-user, having acquired all the needs.
At the launch in November 2018, the developer has informed the project would be finished in 36 months.
The previous day’s statement by RERA said its chairman Shaikh Salman bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is also the president of the Survey and Land Registration Bureau, led the meeting which acknowledged the tireless development of all activities by authorities and endeavors to address snags as confirmed by the advancement inland projects, which keep on doing great regardless of monetary difficulties.
The board was acknowledged the latest progress in relation to licensing and certifying property professionals and organizing owners related to real estate projects.
In the meeting, the authority’s chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa represented a presentation on the progress and development of property projects and the sector’s growth, stating that RERA carries on to develop appropriate solutions to problems encountered by institutions and developers.