The UAE’s Aldar Properties has invited companies to bid for the fourth package of its Abu Dhabi Plaza project in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Contractors have been invited to submit technical proposals on 21 February, followed by commercial bids three days later.

The prequalifiers for the contract include: Turkey’s Baytur, a joint venture of Belgium’s Besix with Turkey’s Sembol, South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction, South Korea’s Samsung C&T, and Turkey’s Yuksel.

The fourth package involves building a 75-storey tower with 446 apartment units on the upper levels and offices on the lower levels, 39,677 square metres of retail and leisure accommodation in a two level podium, a 182-room hotel and 100 serviced apartment rooms.

The contract also involves fitting out four basement car park levels, which are being built as part of the substructure work that was awarded to Baytur.

The Abu Dhabi Plaza was launched in November 2007. It is a 500,000 sq m development near the president’s palace in Astana and has been designed to become an iconic building on the Astana skyline.

The project manager is UK-based Mott Macdonald and HKR Architects, also UK-based, is the lead design consultant and construction supervisor. The client is Aldar affiliate Aldar EuroAsia.

In late December, the Abu Dhabi government agreed a new $4.6bn bailout plan for Aldar Properties. The government agreed to invest AED16.8bn ($4.6bn) through unit sales, asset transfers and reimbursements.

Under the deal, the government purchased 760 three-, four- and five-bedroom units within the Al-Bandar, Al-Zeina and Al-Muneera developments in Aldar’s Al-Raha Beach development for a total of AED3.5bn. Aldar will retain ownership of the remaining units.

The government has also agreed to reimburse Aldar AED5bn for certain completed and under construction, infrastructure assets at the Al-Raha Beach development.

Aldar has also agreed to sell its Central Market development and related infrastructure to the government for AED5.7bn. Aldar will be responsible for the construction management and supervision of the project in addition to the immediate operation and management of the facilities on behalf of the government. The government will fund the estimated AED2.6bn completion costs of the development.

Aldar will receive the proceeds from the sale transactions over the next four years in line with an agreed payment schedule, which includes the receipt of AED4.5bn by the end of February (MEED 29:12:11).