A contract award is due by the end of September. The successful company will complete the masterplan by early December. 'As an essential first step, a masterplan will be drawn up for the whole DIFC land, where we will define layouts, structure and the mix of buildings and amenities,' said Marwan Khalifa al-Felasi, project manager of DIFC's real estate development unit, in a statement.

To be located on a 3.5 million-square-metre site adjacent to Emirates Towers, the project will provide a base for institutions operating in the regional market. The facilities will be built in three phases. Phase 1 will involve the construction of a new headquarters for DIFC, extensive landscaping and an underground subway system to reduce traffic entering the district.

A contract has been awarded to the local Emirates Norteck Surveys to carry out site surveys for the proposed facilities.

The US' Turner International is the project manager (MEED 14:6:02).