The local Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Oger and El-Seif Engineering & Contracting Company, are among contractors that will be invited to bid for contracts covering 21 buildings at the IT business park in Riyadh, sources close to the project tell MEED.

The Information Technology & Community Complex (ITCC), will located in the Nakheel district of Riyadh, is the kingdom’s first dedicated IT park and is part of the country’s efforts to develop a more diversified economy.

The contracts have a total value of SR5bn ($1.3bn) and will be split into three packages.

One covers four high-rise towers and a number of supporting buildings. Another covers various housing units such as villas and apartment blocks. The final
package covers a hotel and convention centre.

The ITCC is being developed in two phases. The first phase covers 500,000 square metres and will be developed over five years. It will be a gated community featuring towers, offices, a library, a research and development complex, sports club, and housing aimed at staff working at the IT and telecoms companies, which will be based in the park.

Phase two will cover a further 300,000 sq m.

While the masterplan has been drawn up for both phases, the detailed engineering has only been carried out for the first phase of the project to date.

The infrastructure for the first phase is being carried out by El-Seif, which was awarded a SR243m contract in April by the Public Pension Agency (PPA), which is the client (MEED 22:4:08).

This work is scheduled to take 16 months to complete. The local Al-Harbi was the other firm in final stage negotiations with the client.

The IT business park is one of a number of projects the PPA is developing or planning for sites across the kingdom.

The agency is in the final design stages for a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use project in Jeddah. The 2.7 square kilometre scheme will comprise a business park as well as residential housing. The masterplan is expected to be finalised in December, after which work will begin on the detailed engineering for the infrastructure.

According to a source at the PPA, its location in close proximity to King Abdulaziz International Airport could indicate the business park focus on logistics companies. A more accurate value of the project will be known by the beginning of 2009, but the source estimates it to be worth between SR5bn-10bn.

The PPA is also due to start work on developing a masterplan for another mixed-use project in Khobar in the Eastern region, on an area of land covering 800,000 sq m. It is in the process of approaching international consultants to draw up the conceptual masterplan.

The agency has also been developing a project in Mecca that is due to be completed in time for the Hajj, which starts this year in the first week of December.