Work on a second hotel on Abu Dhabi's Al Maryah Island is set to go ahead after developer Mubadala Real Estate awarded a Dh730 million (£130m) contract to design and build the Four Seasons to Al Futtaim Carillion.
The joint venture between British construction giant Carillion and the Al Futtaim Group, announced in a stock market statement today that the new five-star hotel, will be 144 metres high and have a floor area of 100,000 square metres.
Construction work is set to start over the next couple of days and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015 London-quoted Carillion said.
Mubadala aspires to turn Al Maryah into Abu Dhabi's new financial centre along the lines of Canary Wharf in London or La Defense in Paris.
The news marks the next significant phase of Mubadala's Dh4 billion Sowwah Square project on Al Maryah which the state owned strategic investment company has been developing for the past six years.
In April the government passed a law creating Abu Dhabi's first financial free zone on the island and Al Maryah's first hotel, the Rosewood Abu Dhabi opened its doors in May. And a new luxury shopping centre is scheduled to open to the public this summer.
The news also comes less than a week after Mubadala and Taiwanese developer Farglory broke ground on the island's first residential scheme, Maryah Plaza and shortly after Mubadala announced that it was looking for expressions of interest to build three more bridges connecting the island with the rest of Abu Dhabi.
Mubadala said it would be issuing a statement about the contract award over the coming weeks.
Al Futtaim Carillion is currently working on a £600 million contract to construct New York University Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island. The contractor is also working on a £20 million enabling works contract for the Advanced Military Maintenance Repair Overhaul Centre at Al Ain.
