Gulf Construction Online

UAE Focus

Update

01 October 2005

Emaar to invest $4bn on malls
Dubai: Leading real estate company Emaar Properties has announced plans to aggressively expand the retail sector with a massive Dh15 billion ($4 billion) investment.
Emaar’s fully-owned subsidiary Emaar Malls is looking at developing about 100 malls in the mega emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and the Indian subcontinent within the next couple of years.

The countries of interest for the Emaar Malls are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, India and Pakistan. Already, the company is fast developing the world’s largest shopping destination - 12 million sq ft Dubai Mall – in the Burj Dubai development in the heart of Downtown Dubai.
“We estimate around 500 malls for the Middle East and sub-continent of India and Pakistan during the next five years. We know the cultures and demographics of these two regions which have a population of over 2 billion people who want top-of-the-line leisure entertainment and shopping facilities. This is a huge market and we know we have the drive, the resource and the managerial skills to grab it and maintain our leading position,” Emaar chairman, Mohamed Ali Alabbar said during a recently held press conference.
To successfully penetrate into these markets and accelerate the entry process, Emaar Malls will take advantage of the strategic international operations that Emaar Properties already has in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt, India and Pakistan, besides its home-base in the UAE.

Trident awards Marinascape deal
Dubai: Trident International Holdings (TIH), a leading real estate development company, has awarded the construction of its second freehold residential project, The Marinascape, to multinational engineering and construction conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Limited.
Covering a gross area of more then 900,000 sq ft, the Dh440 million ($119.7 million) luxurious residential twin towers are located at the Dubai Marina. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.
L&T takes over from Bauer Spezialtiefbau, the Germany-based world leader in advanced foundation technology, who have been working on the earth work, including piling and foundation of the project since early this year. Its cutter and secant pile walls technology which revolutionised construction in the UAE helped construct previously inconceivable deep basements.
The Marinascape is prominently located at the edge of the man-made Dubai Marina. It consists of two grand residential towers – the 35 storey Oceanic and the 25 storey Avant – cumulatively comprising over 200 condominiums and villa complexes. The project also comprises several four-bedroom Marina Homes with rooftop landscaped terraces and distinctive lifestyle concepts such as the ‘Infinity Pool’, ‘3G Super Wired Residences’ and a host of other luxurious amenities.

New cement plant for Fujairah
Dubai: Dubai Holding is setting up a state-of-the-art greenfield cement plant in partnership with Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Dubai Investment Group (DIG) and the government of the emirate of Fujairah.
The Emirates Cement Company will construct the cement plant in Fujairah as its first project.
The plant will have a total production capacity of three million tonnes per year, said Dubai Holding chief executive officer Mohammed Al Gergawi.
“Construction work at the site is already under way and is expected to be completed in 24 months,” he said.

L&T to build Mogul Gardens 2
Dubai Nakheel has awarded Indian construction and engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L & T) a Dh378.2 million ($103 million) contract to build the Mogul Gardens 2 project at Nakheel’s Discovery Gardens residential development located on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road.
The project involves construction of 27 residential blocks with 1,908 apartments offering a total built-up area of 178,050 sq m. In all, there will be 18 four-storey and nine five-storey buildings.
The project will be executed by the company’s construction division and is scheduled to complete in 560 days from the date of signing. Turner Construction is the project consultant.

Empower to cool Business Bay
Dubai: Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has signed a 25-year contract with Business Bay in Dubai to supply 350,000 tonnes of cooling over the next quarter of a century.
The deal is the first of a number of contracts in the pipeline between Business Bay and Empower.
Eventually, the district cooling giant will supply the entire Business Bay project, covering a massive 64 sq km of land, supplying over 350,000 tonnes of cooling over the next 25 years.
Empower’s District Cooling System (DCS) will cool water at a central plant on Sheikh Zayed Road, Phase I, and distribute it through a network of piping systems to Business Bay's individual buildings.

Sharjah deal for Septech Emirates
Sharjah: Sharjah Municipality has installed yet another sewage treatment system from local company, Septech Emirates. The facility installed in Kalba on the east coast by the wastewater management specialists upgrades the existing facility, doubling its original capacity to 2,000 cu m per day.
The new centralised sewage plants will have a capacity to treat effluent produced by towns in excess of 5,000 people when additional units are installed.

Travco to develop Fujairah resorts
Fujairah: Travco Dubai, a leading tour operator, is investing Dh161.73 million ($44.034 million) in two resorts at Fujairah’s Al Aqah beach.
The company has also applied for a plot of land on the Palm Jumeirah to develop a third hotel.
Osama Bushra, Travco’s regional general manager, said: “The first resort will be operated by Spanish chain Iberotel. It will have 314 rooms and will be completed by October 2006. Construction of the project is currently going on in full swing.”
Investment in the project will be about Dh74.9 million, and the second hotel with 364 rooms will cost Dh86.83 million.

Deal let for Al Raha Gardens
Abu Dhabi: Aldar Properties has awarded the contract for construction, completion and maintenance of the first 280 villas and townhouses in its Al Raha Gardens development to Al Jaber Building Establishment of Abu Dhabi.
Following a pre-qualification and tender process, Al Jaber was awarded the contract last month for the first two communities, Al Muzera and Al Mariah, involving all on-site construction within the development phase – including infrastructure buildings, internal roads, utility services and other associated works.
Work begins immediately with completion scheduled for August 2006. Show homes for viewing purposes will be ready by January-end 2006.
Meanwhile, eight contractors have been invited to tender for the dredging and reclamation contract at the forthcoming Al Raha Beach Development, according to Aldar Properties.
The contract requires dredging from a “borrow area” of suitable sands and soils offshore, and the creation of a new land area of some 450 hectares along an eight-km shore line.

Credo launches $46m Le Solarium
Dubai: Credo Investments has launched its first and flagship project, Le Solarium, a Dh170 million ($46.3 million) state-of-art, luxurious commercial building.
With a built-up area of more than 71,000 sq ft, Le Solarium has been designed and is being built by leading architects and construction companies and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007. The long-term, leasehold is claimed to be the first of its kind in Dubai commercial real estate.
The complex will include: a fully-equipped business centre for conference and business meetings; customised infrastructure for telecommunications; wireless connections for high-speed internet and cable connections; climate and light control; state-of-the-art security system; food court and shopping mall; health club and swimming pool; and parking for more than 600 cars, including visitor spaces.

DLC runway work to commence
Dubai: About 50 per cent of the ground grading work for the first phase of Dubai Logistics City (DLC) is now complete and construction work on the development’s dedicated runway is due to begin this month, according to a spokesman for the DLC.
DLC is the first phase of the new Jebel Ali Airport City and, together with Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone and the new Jebel Ali International Airport, make up the world’s first truly multi-modal facility for air, sea and road services.
The runway is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2007, and will enable DLC to operate as a freighter airport capable of handling the new-generation Airbus A380-800F airliner. The ground grading work is due for completion next February.
Construction of DLC’s facilities, including a cargo terminal, agents building, amenities and the DLC headquarters and office park, will take place simultaneously with the construction of the runway and the new Jebel Ali International Airport facilities.
Meanwhile, the first phase of DLC has been expanded following overwhelming demand for lease land plots. An additional 1.4 million sq m of land for lease has been built into the phase one masterplan, taking the total available to some 3.6 million sq m nett.
To date over 1 million sq m of leased land in phase one has been reserved by future tenants who will be able to begin construction on their individual premises in the second quarter of 2006.

‘Spaceship’ project takes off at park
Dubai: Osus, a multi-disciplinary real estate development company, is investing Dh200 million ($55 million) in a new theme park project, Stargate, located at Zabeel Park.
Osus will develop the project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis on behalf of and in partnership with Stargate owners, Dubai Municipality. The project is due for completion in December 2006.
Stargate is a hi-tech mid-size and mixed-use themed family entertainment centre covering a total area of 260,000 sq ft. The overall concept was created around two animated characters called Ajeeb and Ghareeb, who captain a spaceship code named Stargate. Other features include the children’s academy, hi-tech mazes and the fun-filled ‘leisure triangle. Stargate also offers a multi-cuisine food court under a magnificent glazed pyramid.
Once completed, the project’s terrace and five domes will be visible to the park’s visitors, as the main body of the ‘spaceship’ will lie underground.
Zabeel Park, which covers 52 hectares, is being masterplanned and developed by Dubai Municipality, which last year awarded the construction contract to Dubai-based contractors Engineering Contracting Company (ECC).