Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority is still engaged in discussions with selected bidders for the contract to build and operate Union Oasis, the emirate’s first transit-oriented development (TOD) project.

MEED reported in November last year that five companies and joint ventures, comprising mostly local developers, submitted an offer for the contract.

The bidders are understood to include:

• Al-Shafar General Contracting (local)
• ITNL Infrastructure Developers/ IL&FS Transportation Networks (local/India)
• Emaar (local)
• Deyaar (local)
• Yapi Merkezi (Turkey)

In November last year, AbdulMohsin Ibrahim Younes, CEO of rail at the RTA, told MEED that they have not determined an exact date for the award of the contract. “It is a public-private partnership [PPP] project, and as you may be aware, negotiations for this type of project takes time,” he said.

The Dubai Union Oasis mixed-use development is a flagship PPP and TOD scheme launched by the RTA. It is to be located above the underground station where the Dubai Metro’s Red and Green lines meet.

It will be the second project likely to be awarded under the auspices of Dubai’s newly implemented PPP law.

In May last year, Dubai Courts appointed Park Line for the $80m contract to convert a portion of the car park at the Dubai Courts premises into an integrated development that would include two buildings, one to house the Supreme Courts and cater to commercial and retail establishments, and the other to comprise a multi-level car park equipped with robotic car parking technology.

Park Line, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the Dubai subsidiary of India’s IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL) and Next Generation Parking (NGP) of Saudi Arabia, will deliver the project on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.