UAEDubai-based Nakheel has invited companies to submit bids by 10 September for a contract to build the headquarters building on the proposed Mohammed bin Rashid technology park project. Called Techno Park, the project will be built on a three-square-kilometre site, adjacent to the existing Jebel Ali free zone.

The contract is estimated to be worth at least AED 100 million ($27 million) and includes the construction of a lake, landscaping, access roads and related facilities. US consultant Research Triangle Institute (RTI)has prepared the masterplan; the consultant is Canada’s Cansult.

Designed to provide international companies with a research and development presence in the region, the park will initially be structured around five technology clusters covering desalination, water treatment, energy, oil and gas exploration and insulation. Companies wishing to set up in the park will build their own facilities under 50-year leases (MEED 31:5:03).