A joint venture of South Africa’s Murray & Roberts and the local Ghantoot Group has won an estimated AED500m ($136m) to build a residential development at Al-Raha beach in Abu Dhabi.

The contract involves the construction and completion of apartment towers and town houses, and is due for completion in the first quarter of 2016.

The consultant is Lebanon’s Khatib & Alami. The project client is Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments.

Aabar Investments has an extensive real estate portfolio across the UAE. In early February, the firm signed a AED22bn agreement with the local Arabtec Construction for the design and build of 37 towers across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.