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

The client sent a letter of intent to the contractor in the first week of February for the hotel project, which will be built on the site of the old Jumeirah Beach Club on the emirate’s Beach Road.

The piling work on the scheme is already under way and the main contractor is expected to start work on 1 March, according to a source close to the project.

The construction work is scheduled to take two years to complete. The architect is South Africa’s DSA Architects International and UK-based Hyder Consulting has been appointed as the main consultant. The local HH Investment & Development is the development manager for the project. HH Investment & Development is a subsidiary of the local Bright Start, the client for the project.

The hotel will have a total built-up area of 65,000 square metres and will include basement parking. The ground level will include a valet parking area, parking and operational facilities. Guest rooms will be located on the first five floors.

When completed, in addition to guest rooms, the hotel will contain a ballroom, spa, fitness centre, main hotel restaurant and bar, rooftop bar and lounge. The hotel will also contain recreation facilities, which will include tennis courts and swimming pools, in addition to retail facilities, other small cafes, and food and beverage outlets.

The main construction package will involve the structural and civil works, architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing works.

Plans to redevelop the area where the beach club is located were originally drawn up in 2006. Local hotel operator Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts selected the local Khansaheb Civil Engineering in early 2007 to redevelop the site, but the company never started work on the project.

In 2009, Jumeirah hotels made new preparations to issue tender documents for a AED750m ($204m) redevelopment of the beach club development. The project was planned to include the construction of a two-storey hotel with a reception area, restaurants, a spa and two levels of basement parking. It was also to include a separate spa building, 131 chalets and two restaurants, one on the seashore and one on the marina’s breakwater.

The tender was cancelled before any contractor was appointed.