LAHORE: The development work on the Lahore Central Business District’s phase-1 is likely to be completed by coming April as over 80pc sewerage-related works were completed a couple of days back.

The phase-I will have 12 skyscrapers, each of 500 feet height, distinguishing Lahore from other cities of the country. The Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA) is presently in contact with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in a bid to take the limit of the building height to more than 500 feet to attract more investors, Dawn has learnt.

“The 252 kanal land has been allocated for the LCBD’s phase-I and 12 plots have been carved out for skyscrapers. Of these, five plots have been auctioned for Rs21.5bn—a record price so far. After auction of five plots, the development work at phase-I was launched in October,” a source in the Punjab government told Dawn on Sunday.

Talking about the pace of work, the official said the contractor had been asked to complete development work (except the underground areas) by April. After firm is preparing for launching the works related to roads, footpaths, lake, pedestrian passages, electricity, parking etc, he maintained.

Authorities trying to raise height limit of skyscrapers beyond 500 feet

It may be mentioned that Prime Minister Imran Khan had, on Feb 26, laid the foundation stone for the central business district at the Walton Airport site, claiming that the project would help the government generate funds to pay off foreign loans. He had called it an out-of-the-box initiative to create wealth, overcome fiscal as well as current account deficit and sustain the country’s economy, saying that the economic hub would lead to the construction of many high-rises in Gulberg and Ferozepur Road areas.

The total land demarcated for the district consists of various chunks of land measuring 278 acres while 122 acres out of the total land are situated along the Ferozepur Road. The remaining pieces of land are in the jurisdiction of Walton Airport and the Bab-e-Pakistan (Walton Road). All the 278 acres fall under the CBDDA’s controlled area.

After the auction of five plots in September for building high-rises and promoting vertical growth in the city, the planning for auctioning the remaining seven plots is under way these days.

The official said development work at phase-I was launched after the LCBDDA’s Board of Directors (BoD) approved Rs3.5bn PC-1, following recommendation of bidding & development scrutiny committee.

“The commercial zones (phase 1 and others) would have a mixture of the UAE and Singapore building architecture. The zones would be pedestriansed as there would be no room to allow motorists in the area. Operation of a tram service is also under consideration in the phase-I to ease mobility,” the official explained.

He said the business district would focus on water conservation by all means. The grey water (wastewater other than of toilet) would be reused through treatment plant. Similarly, the black water (toilet) would also be treated and used for the toilets, watering of plants, green areas etc.

“The parking is being planned to be kept underground. Moreover there would be several shops, food corners etc in underground markets,” he said, claiming that it would be the first commercial area of the country that would have 43pc open spaces.

To a query, he said those who won the auctions were making arrangements required for launching civil works for their high-rises.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021