Bahrain’s Thalia Real Estate has invited companies to bid by 28 March for a contract to build a five-star hotel in the Dubai Internet City area.

Located next to the petrol station being renovated on Sheikh Zayed Road, the proposed property will have about 235 rooms and a built-up area of about 42,000 square metres.

The site was previously earmarked for a much larger development by US-based Capital Partners in 2005. The project, known as River Walk, would have comprised more than 450,000 sq m of built-up office, retail and housing space, with 1,700 planned residential units.

The consultancies working on the scheme include South Africa’s MLC and Canada’s Mirage Consulting.

Developers in Dubai are moving forwards with new hotel projects as the emirate prepares to host the World Expo in 2020.

In February, the local Al-Basti & Muktha was awarded an estimated AED700m ($190m) deal for the construction of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Dubai. Located on Jumeirah Beach Road looking out to the Gulf, the hotel will have 200 rooms and suites, as well as 12 villas.