Dubai Parks and Resorts, the entertainment division of the local Meraas Holding, has appointed a contractor for its arena project in Dubai.

The local ASGC has been awarded the main building contract for the $200m Dubai Arena project being developed at the Citywalk area in Dubai, according to a source close to the project.

It is understood that work on the site has already started.

The Dubai Arena will be a multipurpose venue developed within the Citywalk project, which was also developed by Meraas. The arena will have the capacity to host up to 17,000 people and will be completed by the final quarter of 2018.

Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah is the projects main consultant while US-firm Populous is the lead architect.

ASGC was also awarded the contract to build the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Library earlier this month. ASGC was the low bidder, with a price of AED898m ($245m) when prices were submitted in August. Four other contractors also submitted prices to Dubai Municipality, which is developing the project.

The 92,903-square-metre scheme, which is set to be the biggest public library in the Middle East, will also include a 500-seat theatre

The consultancies working on the project are the local Architectural Consulting Group (ACG) and the UAE office of the US’ Miro.

Dubai announced plans to develop the library in the Al-Jadaf area near the Dubai Creek in February.