The Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) is preparing for the arrival of its first tenants within the next two weeks, the chief developer of the project said yesterday.

'We are galvanising for the arrival of the first three companies - Servcorp, Reuters and a local bank - and there are a few more hot on their heels, so we are off to a strong start,' said Stephen Rothel, chief executive of Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding Company (BFHHC).

Rothel was speaking shortly after the BFHHC appointed real estate consultants Cluttons as property managers for the main financial centre at the heart of the $1.5 billion development.

Cluttons will market the project internationally, and co-ordinate with the construction teams on the handover and commissioning of the project. The firm's services will also extend to maintenance, the supervision of tenants and all accounting functions.

Cluttons has been active in the Middle East since the mid-1970s, and has been involved in some of the biggest real estate and infrastructure projects in the Gulf, including the Almoayyed Tower in Bahrain, the Pearl in Qatar and the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh.

The two completed BFH towers each have 52 floors available, but Rothel points out that the number of tenants does not necessarily relate to the overall occupancy level.

'Gulf Finance House and Al Khaliji Bank have taken 12 floors, for example. It is hard to be specific, as some agreements have already been made, and others are under negotiation, but in general we have a good level of occupancy,' said Rothel.

The BFHHC has also encountered strong interest in the as-yet undeveloped land that has been reclaimed behind the towers.

'There has been a lot of interest from outside developers looking to buy plots,' he said.

Independent developers would be able to build their own projects within the financial harbour, provided their designs fell in line with the general masterplan.

'Depending on market conditions, we expect the entire financial harbour to be completed in 2010 or 2011,' he said. TradeArabia News Service