The local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton Group has won the estimated AED1.9bn ($515m) to build the Habtoor Palace hotel development in Dubai.

The new development will be located on the site of the existing Metropolitan Hotel on Sheikh Zayed road. Al-Habtoor Leighton will build two basement levels, a ground floor, mezzanine and four level podium with a 36-storey tower and a 25-storey tower, with a total built-up area of about 372,000 square metres.

The towers will comprise a 226-room luxury hotel, a fashion hotel with 424 rooms and a 996-room main hotel.

Demolition of the existing Metropolitan Hotel is scheduled to commence at the end of March, with early works likely to begin in June 2012. The development is scheduled for completion on the second half of 2016.

The consultant is Lebanon’s Khatib & Alami.

It is the latest hotel contract to be awarded in Dubai in recent months.

In early February, the local Dubai Contracting Company (DCC) has been awarded an estimated AED400m ($108.9m) contract to build a new Four Seasons resort in Dubai.

In mid-January, the local/UK Al-Futtaim Carillion has won the estimated AED200m ($54m) contract to build the extension to the Meridien hotel in the the Garhoud area close to Dubai International airport.