Mubadala to issue New York University tender by year end

25 November 2009

Contractors have been prequalified to bid for work on Saadiyat Island campus

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Company plans to tender a contract to design and build a campus on Saadiyat Island for New York University Abu Dhabi before the end of December.

Mubadala has already prequalified contractors for the tender. They include a joint venture of the UAE’s Al-Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and South Africa’s Murray & Roberts Contractors (Middle East), the local/Lebanese Arabian Construction Company, local firms Alec and Arabtec Construction, and Saudi Arabia’s El-Seif Engineering & Contracting.

The campus, in Saadiyat Island’s cultural district, will have lecture theatres, classrooms, a library, IT buildings, laboratories, accommodation and sports facilities (MEED 6:7:09).

The US’ Rafael Vinoly Architects has prepared the masterplan.

Mubadala is developing two other universities in Abu Dhabi. The Al-Habtoor/Murray & Roberts joint venture is the construction contractor on both.

In November 2008, the joint venture won an estimated AED3bn ($817m) contract to build the new Zayed University campus in Abu Dhabi. Located in Khalifa City, it will comprise a 750,000- square-metre campus with a total built-up area of 200,000 square metres. Mubadala wants construction work to finish by July 2011.

In May 2008, Al-Habtoor/Murray & Roberts won a AED1.2bn design and build contract for the Paris-Sorbonne University Campus on Reem Island.

Al-Habtoor/Murray & Roberts completed the first phase in August this year. Its deadline for the second phase is August 2010.

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