DHA Multan

Promag was engaged as Principal Consultant and Project Manager for this project when DHA was in the early stages of site selection and land acquisition. The project conception and master planning undertaken by Promag was based around a comprehensive financial plan and viability assessment. Primary aspects of the overall assignment included Development Advisory, Planning Design and later Implementation/ Construction Management phases. Key challenges related to the above included the following;

• Identifying and planning a range of socio-economically diverse products. Planning for a diverse socio-economic population spectrum and curating a product range from affordable housing to high-income luxury products, such as the Golf Community, in one self-contained development.
• Absence of a consolidated land parcel – Resulting in a segmented implementation plan which had to eventually evolve as a single self-contained integrated development.
• Evolving a flexible project development program due to the unpredictable evolution of land within the earmarked boundaries.
• A welfare component of the project had to be accommodated within the viability parameters of the project.
• Advice on the new Authority’s operational costs, capacity building and growth requirements.
• Determination of a minimum project size – to achieve viability and delivery goals.
• Setting up Planning Density Standards & Sustainability Goals – to achieve a balance between quality of lifestyle and corresponding loss of inventory.
• Determining a development charge rate while ensuring that infrastructure planning and design were budgeted without compromising on quality standards of the project. Evolving a charge rate recovery schedule from the stake holders consistent with the cash flow planning.
• Strategies for gradual habitation of the development – Staged planning of the masterplan as well as infrastructure implementation to optimize investment as well as unnecessary rehabilitation costs due to gradual habitation of the development.
• Preparation of development strategy to manage investor perception and confidence.
• Establishing early livability status through priority projects – Identifying and planning priority development projects (such as Destination Projects, 50-Acre gated Villa Community, marriage marquee, golf course and shopping/retail outlets) to achieve early liveability goals and bolster buyer confidence.
• Inventory release & cashflow mobilization plan – Determining the schedule for inventory release to achieve development cash flow requirements.
• Transaction advisory on PPP and special projects – suggested approach & policy framework for proposed transaction structures for a number of DHA projects where private sector participation was being anticipated.
• Identifying ideal contract sizes in terms of discipline and value, based on the market’s resource capacity and planning goals.
• Management of multiple multidisciplinary contracts – Owing to an absence of a consolidated land parcel. Integration of infrastructure development works to result in a composite development.
• Challenges of maintaining gravity systems on a flat agricultural and initially disjointed land.
• Extensive multidisciplinary design management & coordination during the various development phases.

All these aspects and issues were addressed and a basic masterplan along with its technical and financial parameters was prepared to create a base plan for the implementation of the project.