A new beach resort is taking shape in Bahrain, the brainchild of Fortune Promoseven president Akram Miknas.

Located east of the Marina Club, the Palm Beach Resort will cover an area of 10,000 sq m and cost BD1.6 million ($4.24 million) to build.

Site preparation work is under way and the resort should open by September, Miknas said.

The contractor is G P Zachariades and the consultant Intec Bahrain.

When completed, the resort will have three different types of restaurants including a large food court.

Guests can enjoy a host of leisure facilities such as water sports One swimming pool will have a combination of salty and sweet water to give guests a feel of the sea.

The idea is to rent the facilities out to five-star hotels and also offer memberships to families at reasonable rates. Talks are on with three major hotels in this regard, he said.

"We are comfortable with the new drive toward family-oriented tourism and this project is in line with this goal. This project is our commitment to tourism in Bahrain," he said.

The City Centre Group, a company which he set up two years ago, will oversee and manage the resort.

The group will offer jobs for about 240 people, of whom at least 100 will be Bahrainis.

Miknas, who began investing in the hospitality business about three years ago, also has interests in several restaurants in Bahrain.

To date, he has invested about BD5.5 million in this sector.

One of his new projects is a new restaurant named Little Camelot, inspired by the legendary medieval castle.

Miknas is also building a 10-storey car park in central Manama that will ease traffic problems in the area.

The car park will cost BD1 million and is expected to be completed by next June.

"This will fully automatic and can accommodate 222 cars. Drivers need not search for vacant parking spaces and should park their cars in containerised lifts and the process will be taken care of by computers," he said.