The Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has submitted the lowest bid for the contract to build the Abraj Kudai mixed-use development in Mecca.

The local contractor submitted a price of SR13bn for the project, which involves building 12 towers ranging in height from 30 to 45 storeys. SBG’s price is about 19 per cent lower than the price of SR16bn submitted by the second lowest bidder, the local El-Seif Engineering & Construction. The other bidders are Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) at SR18bn, Nesma & Partners Construction at SR19bn, and the local ABV Rock at SR21bn.

The towers will be built on top of a large podium and three basement floors. The two 45-storey towers will be built at the centre of the development and will have a single dome structure topping both buildings. The other 10 towers will be 30 storeys high and will be built around the two central buildings. Altogether, the towers will have 10,150 residential units and hotel rooms. The podium will have a bus station, shopping mall, restaurants, food courts, a conference centre and car parks. The total built-up area of the development is 1.5 million square metres.

The development will be built in the Manafia area in central Mecca, 1.7 kilometres away from the Grand Mosque. The 64,000-square-metre plot is next to Ajyad road in the east, and the Kudai and Birka tunnels to the west.

The project is the latest major real estate project to be tendered in Mecca. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, there are $2.6bn of real estate construction contracts currently being tendered in the Mecca Province.

In December last year, the joint venture of Lebanon’s Arabian Construction Company (ACC) and the UAE’s Drake & Scull International was awarded the estimated SR2.7bn ($720m) contract to build phase three of the Jabal Omar Development in Mecca.

In March last year, a joint venture of the local Saudi Arabian Baytur Construction Company and the local Azmeel Contracting & Construction Corporation was awarded an estimated SR1.49bn contract to build the second phase of the Jabal Omar scheme. The local Nesma & Partners Construction is currently working on the first phase of the development.

The Jabal Omar Development will consist of 37 towers when completed.