Seven bids in for first phase of Dohaland’s Musheireb project

14 January 2010

Contractors compete for building and infrastructure deals

Local developer Dohaland is evaluating bids for two construction packages at its QR20bn ($5.5bn) Musheireb development.

The project, which was formerly known as the Heart of Doha, was renamed Musheireb at an official groundbreaking ceremony on 13 January attended by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his wife, the chairwoman of Dohaland, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned.

Both packages are for work on phase 1a of the project and the client expects to make contract awards in March or April this year.

Seven contracting groups have submitted bids for the infrastructure work. The bidders are a joint venture of Greece’s Aktor and the local Aljaber Engineering; the local Black Cat Engineering & Construction; Italy’s Impregilo; the local Redco Group; Italy’s Rizzani de Eccher; Singapore’s Sembawang; and Turkey’s Tekfen Construction.

The contract involves installing basic infrastructure and services for the phase 1a buildings, for which six contractors have submitted bids to Dohaland.

The estimated QR800m ($220m) package involves the construction of a national archive building, an annex to the Diwan centre, and a building for the Emiri Guard, which is part of the country’s armed forces (MEED 17:7:09).

The total built-up area of the buildings is about 144,000 square metres.

All the buildings have been designed according to environmentally sustainable building standards, with the aim of receiving a platinum rating, the highest available, from the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (Leed) rating system developed by the US’ Green Building Council.

Germany’s Bauer is working on the enabling works package for phase 1a.

Dohaland is also preparing tender documents for the much larger phase 1b of the project. It covers about 50 per cent of the Musheireb development and includes residential, commercial and retail space. Tenders for the enabling works package will be issued in April or May.

The 750,000-square-metre Musheireb development is one of the largest real estate schemes in the capital. It will be built behind the Emiri Diwan administrative centre on Doha corniche.

The masterplan is divided into several districts, including a residential and mixed-use quarter, a retail quarter, a heritage quarter, and a commercial area called the Headquarters Gateway.

It will also include an interchange for Doha’s proposed metro system, a shopping mall, hotels and a commercial district.

The project manager is US-based Turner Construction International.

Dohaland is part of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science & Community Development.

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