The local Jabal Omar Development Company has awarded a SR3.4bn ($907m) construction contract to the local Nesma & Partners Construction for part of the first phase of the $5bn Jabal Omar development in Mecca.

Nesma has been awarded a 24-month contract to begin construction work on the section of the project adjacent to Ibrahim al-Khalil street, Jabal Omar said in a statement issued to the Saudi Arabia bourse.

The Jabal Omar development includes 37 towers with a total built up area of 2 million square metres. The scheme will be situated on a total area covering 230,000 sq m. The project will include residential, retail and religious buildings.

MEED  recently reported that Jabal Omar may replace the local Saudi Binladin Group as the contractor on a large portion of the SR19bn ($5bn) Mecca real-estate project as a result of changes in terms of the contract (MEED 5:11:10).

The developer is unhappy with the new price submitted by Saudi Binladin as a lump sum for the project, and has begun speaking to other contractors.

The Jabal Omar project is part of Saudi Arabia’s attempts to develop Mecca’s infrastructure to enable it to better handle the more than 13 million people, who visit the city each year for religious pilgrimages.