Islamabad high-rise plots at no upfront cost, a 1,000-acre 'Manhattan' and a 450-acre safari park: Naqvi's plan

Islamabad is to auction large plots for high-rise hotels, malls and apartment towers with no upfront payment, and build a 1,000-acre "Manhattan-style" district and a 450-acre safari park, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Friday 23 October at the Saudi-Pak Real Estate Expo in Lahore, The Express Tribune reported. The announcement was among the most searched Islamabad stories in Pakistan on Friday.

How the plot auction would work

• Plot sizes: one, three and six acres.
• Price: no cash up front. Instead the government takes a share of the finished inventory (flats, offices, shops). Bidding starts at 15% of inventory and developers can offer more.
• Height: buildings must be at least 600 feet.
• Deadline: the project must be finished within two years of approval. "We have only two demands," Naqvi said, the other being that the land is free of cost.
• Approval: three to four weeks through a one-window desk at the Ministry of Interior.
• Auction committee: five members from NAB, SIFC, FIA and CDA, headed by a judge (whether serving or retired is not decided).

No auction date, plot locations or sector numbers were given.

The 'Manhattan' district

The new district would sit on 1,000 acres behind the Prime Minister's House, with residential and commercial blocks around a central park and a lake, and its own rules and SOPs, Naqvi said. He did not give a cost or a start date.

Asia's 'largest safari park'

Naqvi described a 450-acre safari park in Islamabad as Asia's largest. As a comparison, he said a Punjab park rebuilt within six months saw its annual auction value rise from Rs 20 million to Rs 680 million in a year, even with half the planned animals.

What it means for buyers in Islamabad

Naqvi said the government has taken steps against high property prices in the capital and expects Saudi investors to take part. For a buyer, the effect depends on how fast towers rise: two-year completion on a 600-foot building is very ambitious by Pakistani standards. Before you pay anyone for a unit "in the new Islamabad towers", check that the developer actually won a plot from the auction committee and that CDA has approved the building plan.

Work out what a flat would earn you with the rental yield calculator, what you would pay to register it with the stamp duty calculator, and what a mortgage would cost with the home loan calculator. Our property desk will follow the auction.