Gulf Construction Online

Regional News

New projects

01 August 2002

Two more malls for Dubai

Dubai: Two new shopping malls with an investment of about Dh200 million ($54.5 million) are coming up in Dubai, UAE.

The 145,000 sq ft Dubai Shopping Center will be ready for occupation in the first quarter of 2003. It will have 115 units, a large food court and children's zone.

Work has also started on another mid-size shopping mall located near Al Shabab Stadium in Al Mamzar. The Century Mall will feature 70 shops, a hypermarket, and food and leisure facilities in a totally residential zone. It is also scheduled to open its doors for business by the first half of next year. Investment on this project is said to be close to Dh100 million.

According to industry sources, over 3 million sq ft of commercial space is available in 33 shopping malls in Dubai. The expansion schemes launched by many existing malls will take up the commercial space close to 4 million sq ft by next year.

Expansion for Marina Club

Manama: A BD80 million ($212.4 million) scheme to turn Bahrain's Marina Club into a flagship resort has been given the go-ahead.

Designs for the resort were approved by the General Organisation for Social Insurance (Gosi) which has appointed the US-based Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo (WATG) to prepare preliminary designs for the resort.

Final designs will be developed by next year and the project is expected to be completed by 2006, said Gosi director general Shaikh Isa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The complex will include a 300-room five-star hotel, which would have facilities for international conferences and exhibitions. The project will also include four 12-storey towers, each housing 48 flats and suites, a deluxe Marina Village, with several four-storey buildings, housing flats and suites, and a mini-shopping mall. There will be swimming pools and berthing facilities for boats. Plans also include a spa, restaurant, coffee shops and other facilities.

Doha Sheraton gets facelift

Doha: Work has begun on the renovation of Sheraton Doha Hotel & Resort in Qatar at a cost of $20 million. The project entails refurbishing three floors of bedroom suites, building a new restaurant complex and entertainment centre on the ground floor and building a new kitchen. The main entrance and foyer area are being redesigned and the Salwa Ballroom is being refurbished.

The work should be completed in October, well in time for the GCC summit which the hotel is hosting in December. The client is hotel owner Qatar National Hotels Company, the contractor is Gulf Housing and the consultant is Arab Engineering Bureau.

Prequals called for rail project

Dubai: Local and international consultants have been invited to prequalify for a preliminary engineering study on the proposed Dubai Light Rail Project.

Local media reports said four international companies were vying for the construction of the multi-million dollar mass transit rail network in Dubai.

The first phase is expected to cost around Dh2 billion ($545 million), Qassim Sultan, the director general of Dubai Municipality said. The construction is expected to start by 2003 and the network should be ready by 2005.

Wilbur Smith Associates of the US is carrying out a technical feasibility study for the project. The firm is expected to submit its study by the end of the summer.

Belhoul to invest in The Palm

Dubai: The Dubai-based Belhoul Group will invest $100 million on a health therapy resort on Jumeirah Palm island off Dubai, UAE. The group has signed a contract for a 20,000 sq m plot on the island.

The total cost includes $16.3 million for purchasing the land and $83.7 million (Dh307 million) for the construction of the project. The project design will be announced in the near future.

The group is in talks with two organisations involved in health tourism Ñ one from Europe and the other from America Ñ to manage the resort. The group will officially open its other project in Dubai, Belhoul Apollo Hospital, at the end of September.

Work to start on hospital

Manama: Work on a new hospital in Muharraq will start soon, following the directives of Bahrain's Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

The hospital will cost BD20 million ($53.2 million), Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Mousawi said.

Dr Al Mousawi also indicated that work would start soon at the Al Dair Health Centre. Tenders for the construction will be announced shortly, he said.

Drainage project approved

Dubai: The Dubai Municipality has approved a Dh60 million ($16.33 million) drainage and storm water project for Al Barsha area in Dubai.

The project will help transfer waste water from Al Barsha and Al Safouh to Al Awir sewage treatment plant. It involves installing pipes in various parts of Dubai in two phases. The first phase covers the Al Safouh Area No 1, which covers 971 hectares. High-capacity pumping stations will be set up, each of which will pump 2,245 litres per second. It will also include house connections in the area.

The project will offer treated water for landscaping. The two-year contract for the project was awarded to a local contracting company.

Work to start on Amwaj hotel

Manama: Work on the first hotel in the BD60 million ($159 million) Al Fanar Beach complex in Bahrain's Amwaj Island project is to start in October. The hotel and a world-class marina, under development on the northeast of Muharraq, will be completed in early 2004, according to the promoter Ossis Property Developers.

Ossis chairman Saud Abdulaziz Kanoo said a management contract with an international hotel chain would be signed soon.

The beach will accommodate eight hotels, he said. The BD12 million reclamation work by Boskalis has almost been completed, and plot owners can now start work on development. A contractor will soon be selected for the work of infrastructure development.

The company has awarded a contract to Saraya Al Bahar to construct model houses on the island. A total of 19 different designs of houses in different sizes will be available.

The Amwaj project is expected to cost a total of $1 billion (BD378 million).

45-storey hotel comes up

Dubai: A Dh300 million ($81 million) hotel is under construction near the Dubai Marina. The 45-storey building is owned by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and chairman of the Emirates Group.

Shaikh Ahmed has not yet decided what brand the hotel will be given but he expects to nominate management within a year.

The Le Meridien is said to be in talks to run the property.

Health Ministry selects HQ design

Dubai: The Ministry of Health has selected a model for its new headquarters expected to be inaugurated by 2005 at an estimated cost of Dh59 million ($16 million).

The eight-storey building in Abu Dhabi will cover an area of around 30,000 sq m on Al Morroor Road near to the new premises of the Ministry of Culture and Information.

The winning model was selected for being the most appropriate structure, consisting of a big library, meeting halls, separate mosques for men and women, a nursery and other necessary infrastructures. It also suits the ministry's future plans to expand its offices and appoint new assistant under-secretaries.

Floating hotel planned

Manama: A floating hotel, the first of its kind in the region comprising 150 rooms, a residential wing and associated services, will be built in Bahrain by the Al Hajma Group.