The local Al-Shafar General Contracting has started work on a $250m hotel development in Dubai.

Nepal’s CG Hotels & Resorts appointed the Al-Shafar in May to build its hotel in the Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) area of Dubai.

The 200-key luxury Vivanta hotel, which will be operated by India’s Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, is expected to be complete by 2018.

It is understood that the consultant is the Dubai-based Archgroup Consultants while the project manager is the local Side International.

In a company statement CG Hotels has said it is looking to further expand in the Middle East and Africa by doubling the number of hotels to 200 by 2020. The company has identified Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Saudi Arabia and Iran as key markets in the next four years.