Strong start to the year by Dubai developers

14 January 2016

Contract awards giveconstruction sector some much-needed confidence

A series of construction awards during the first two weeks of this year have given much-needed confidence to Dubai’s construction sector.

Emaar Properties has awarded the local Al-Basti & Muktha (ABM) the contract to build its Dubai Creek Residences development.

Located in Dubai Creek Harbour, the project involves the construction of six residential towers that form part of The Island District. Emaar received offers last year. The project is scheduled for handover in 2018.

Emaar has also appointed UK-based Faithful+Gould as the programme manager for the Dubai Creek Harbour development.

The Dubai Creek Harbour is a significant project and a long-term one. Emaar says it is three times larger than its Downtown Dubai District. It also says the scheme is a long-term concern and not based on short-term buying patterns and business cycles.

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Pivotal year for Dubai construction

Another Dubai developer that has awarded a contract this year is Omniyat. It has awarded Canada’s Brookfield Multiplex an estimated AED500m ($136m) contract to build the One at Palm Jumeirah residential tower in the emirate.

 One at Palm Jumeirah

One at Palm Jumeirah

The 25-storey tower will have 90 apartments, swimming pools, a cinema, a cigar lounge, a spa and a yacht club.

While the awards will help boost confidence, which has been dented by the decline in awards last year, many more will be needed during the rest of the year if the market is to return to the highs of 2014.

Pivotal year for Dubai construction

There were plenty of announcements and a fair amount of tendering, but on balance 2015 was a disappointment for contractors looking for new work in Dubai.

According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, 2015 was the first year of negative growth for construction contract awards since the market bottomed in 2011. There were $21.3bn of contract awards, which was about 18 per cent less than the nearly $25.9bn of deals awarded in 2014. Read more

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