More than 200 villas at the luxury Riffa Views development in Bahrain that have stood unfinished for years on end are finally set to be completed, it has emerged.

The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) announced yesterday that an agreement between Riffa Views and its major creditors had been reached for the 212 incomplete villas, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

This would also lead to the 140 existing homeowners getting title deeds from Riffa Views Company within a stipulated time-frame.

The project is expected to be completed over the next two years with an undisclosed amount of funding to be provided by NBB and the four contractors, Projects Construction Company, Poullaides Construction Company, Cyprus Cybarco Tabet JV and Cyprus Building and Road Construction Company.

Money raised from the sale of the remaining villas will go towards the project's various creditors, NBB said.

"We believe that we are all working towards a common goal which involves not only completing this prestigious project but also serving as a model for other such projects which need revival," said NBB chief executive and director Abdul Razak Al Qassim.

Riffa Views managing director Yasser Al Raee added that although it had taken a while to reach an agreement, the company believed this would now allow completion of the project.

"We are happy to have rejuvenated the project with the assistance of all our partners," he said.

The GDN reported in January 2013 that homeowners in Riffa Views were being denied the title deeds to their properties because the company behind the development had defaulted on a bank loan.

The contractors, who had been working on the project since 2006, claimed they were owed in excess of BD20 million ($52.7 million).

Titles to 140 properties were withheld by NBB after the land they were built on was offered up in 2011 as additional security for a loan taken by Riffa Views in 2007.

However, Riffa Views defaulted on the loan in 2012 and NBB refused to hand over the title deeds to home buyers until the debt was cleared.

Initially envisaged as a combined golfing and residential community featuring more than 1,000 villas set around an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Colin Montgomery, Riffa Views hosts the Royal Golf Club, the Royal Country Club, Riffa Views International School (RVIS), the RVIS Tennis Academy, the RVIS Football Academy, three mosques and Riffa Palms for retail and restaurants. The project was estimated to be worth BD300 million in 2009. - TradeArabia News Service