Abu Dhabi General Services (Musanada) received bids in late November from contractors for a deal to build an estimated AED350m ($95m), 20,000-seat football stadium at Baniyas City in Abu Dhabi emirate.

The project’s masterplan includes a shopping centre, a tennis club, commercial buildings and parking areas.

The consultant is France’s Roger Tallibert. Musanada is handling the project on behalf of Baniyas Sports & Cultural Club. Its football team plays in the UAE Football League.

Baniyas City is between Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain.

The local Baniyas Investment & Development (BID), the investment arm of Baniyas Sports Club, is building a AED2.2bn ($600m) mixed-use development next to the stadium. The scheme will be called Bawabat al-Sharq and the 1-square-kilometre development will include residential, retail and entertainment buildings.

In May 2007, BID awarded a contract worth AED610m to the local Target Engineering Construction Company for work at Bawabat al-Sharq. This includes building a 100,000-square-metre community complex, a 87,000-square-metre shopping mall, residential apartment blocks and villas. The consultant is Germany’s Weidleplan Consulting.

Abu Dhabi government-controlled investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company has invited companies to prequalify a much larger football stadium. It will be built in the new Capital City District and will seat 65,000 people. UK-based Mott MacDonald is the project manager (MEED 27:11:09).