The Abu Dhabi developer Miral Asset Management has announced that it plans to open a Warner Bros theme park on Yas Island in 2018.
The government-owned company said the new indoor theme park would cost US$1 billion to build and would be 100 per cent owned by Miral.
Construction work on the theme park and a Warner Bros-themed hotel, in the centre of Yas Island, started last year after Miral signed a main construction contract for the project with Belgian contractor Six Construct in May.
Miral said that all of the construction contracts had been awarded and work was more than 30 per cent complete.
It said that the new park would create more than 1,000 new jobs in Abu Dhabi and would increase visitor numbers to Yas Island from 25 million last year to 30 million in 2018.
Miral declined to say how many rides would be included in the new park, but previous reports have put the number at 19. Miral also declined to say how big the park would be.
The new park will be close to the Ferrari World theme park, which was developed by Aldar and opened in 2010. It was sold to the Abu Dhabi government for Dh10.9bn less than three months later and is currently operated by Miral.
Miral, a limited liability company backed by the Abu Dhabi government, also owns other key assets developed by Aldar including Yas Waterworld, the 227-berth Yas Marina and the Cipriani restaurant.
Plans to build a Warner Bros theme park have been around since 2007, when the American media company first signed a deal with Abu Dhabi’s largest listed developer, Aldar.
But the plans were hit by the global financial crisis, during which Aldar sold off many of its assets to the Abu Dhabi government.
Miral said that Aldar would have no role in the creation of the new Warner Bros park. It would be 100 per cent owned by Miral, which has bought the right to use the Warner Bros brand intellectual property for the park.
Miral's chairman, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, is also chief executive of Aldar Properties while the company's chief executive, Mohamed Al Zaabi, has been a board member at Aldar Academies since September 2013.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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