Arif Habib to pump in additional Rs750m into Naya Nazimabad

The original Nazimabad, named after the first Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin, was a middle class suburban neighbourhood in Karachi, established in 1952.

North Nazimabad, was designed for federal employees. As they housed mostly refugees and immigrants from India, these neighbourhoods came to embody the promise of ' Pakistan' - prosperity for the middle class. To this day, they command some of the highest persquare-foot prices in Pakistani real estate.

'Naya Nazimabad', the Arif Habib Group project, has been trying to galvanise a similar sentiment for the new middle class of Karachi, which may have been somewhat dampened (pardon the pun) by the recent flooding that took place in Naya Nazimabad following the torrential downpour in the city. Mahim Maher, a journalist with considerable expertise on Karachi, reported that part of the reason for the flooding was the poor urban planning on the part of the contractors hired by the Arif Habib Group.

Nonetheless, despite that setback - and despite its refusal to compensate current homeowners in Naya Nazimabad for their flood damage - Arif Habib is moving ahead with its plans for the development. In a notice sent by the Arif Habib Ltd to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on August 28, at the next annual general meeting to be held on September 16, the company is looking to approve some serious investment for other companies within the Arif Habib Group. In particular, Javedan Corporation, which owns Naya Nazimabad, is asking for fresh investment of Rs250 million in equity, and Rs500 million as a loan.

So, what is Naya Nazimabad going to do with Rs750 million? It helps to back track a bit. First, let us look at the Arif Habib Group. The group started in 1970 with the brokerage firm Arif Habib Securities. This evolved over the years to the conglomerate of today, and its flagship company is Arif Habib Corporation. However, the investment banking and brokerage arms have been managed by Arif Habib Ltd since 2005.

Now, Arif Habib group also owns majority shares in Javedan Corporation, which was incorporated in 1961 and started off as a cement factory. Javedan owns around 1,300 acres of land at Manghopir, near SITE in Karachi. The area used to house Javedan's cement plant, dilapidated by years of neglect, which in the last decade has now been converted to a housing project. The project is connected to the city via Rashid Minhas Road and is close to Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and North Karachi.

As a project, Naya Nazimabad was conceived to "accommodate the housing demand of the middle income group and to provide a quality lifestyle for the progressive middle class," according to its website. The land is divided up into eight blocks (A, B, C, D, K, L, M, N), with each block designed to have its own commercial area, mosque, and park. The houses are divided up into 120, 160, 240 and 400 square yards residential plots. Once fully made, the project will have up to 30,000 homes, accommodating a population of over 100,000 people.

So, where does Naya Nazimabad stand as of now? According to Javedan's annual report of 2019, the company delivered around 4,000 units of developed plots and bungalows.

The infrastructure development work for blocks A, B, C and D have been completed, while development in block M is still ongoing.

Portions of block K and L were also open for sale. More than 400 families were settled in Naya Nazimabad in 2019, while the total number of residents reached around 500.