A joint venture of South Korea’s Ssangyong and Canada’s Brookfield Multiplex is expected to be awarded the main construction work for the $1bn ICD Brookfield Place project after being selected for early works.

A spokesperson from the ICD Brookfield joint venture, which is developing the scheme, told MEED “Brookfield Multiplex and SSangyong have broken ground on the early work for the scheme. We will not be tendering the main contract and we strongly expect the joint venture to also carry out the main construction,” said Douglas Kirkman, CEO of ICD Brookfield Place, on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony in Dubai on 20 January.

The building is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018, with the first tenants likely to occupy in early 2019.

The ICD Brookfield Place project, being developed in the DIFC area in Dubai, involves building a 53-storey office tower, with a hotel and retail outlets. It is understood that the UK’s Foster + Partners and US-based Aecom are among the consultants working on the project.

The development will be made up of 139,000 square metres of office and retail space with an adjacent five-storey, comprising of 13,000 square metres of dining, fitness and shopping amenities.

ICD Brookfield is being developed by a joint venture of the local Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) and Canada’s Brookfield.

ICD and Brookfield formed a $500m real estate investment fund in 2013.