Construction of new man-made island begins in Dubai

The construction works on Bluewaters Island started in Dubai this Monday. The newest man-made island will be situated approximately 500 meters opposite of the Jumeirah Beach Residence. The project includes the construction of zones for entertainment and dining, as well as five-star resorts and hotels. Read more

Dubai earthquake code updated

The civic authorities on Wednesday issued new rules asking all new projects to raise the threshold of buildings to withstand earthquake tremors up to 5.9 on the Richter scale.

A senior official at Dubai Municipality told local media that the standard was raised as part of the authority’s aim to ensure the public’s safety and the quality of buildings in the emirate, as a result of the increasing number of earthquakes recorded in Iran. Read more

Dubai Municipality to complete 10 prestigious projects

Eng. Hussain Nassir Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, has said that the civic body is in great confidence to accomplish the two ambitious tourism projects, the Dubai Safari and Dubai Frame by the end of 2014.

In addition eight high-tech specialized markets across the different areas of the emirate are being developed aiming to decentralize the business activities to more spacious and comfortable places enabling the visitors of the emirate, tourists and residents meet their shopping requirements away from the traffic congestion of the city.

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2013 is year of optimism and opportunity in GCC construction sector

With 2013 forecasted to be a year of optimism and opportunity for construction in the Middle East, all eyes are back on governments in the region and how they propose to manage their spending, according to Deloitte Middle East’s newly released annual report on the sector: “GCC Powers of Construction: Meeting the challenges of delivering mega projects”. Read more

Dubai to get its own Water Show Theatre

The first permanent water production in Dubai is planned for launch in 2016, with the completion of the construction of a real water show theatre on Habtoor Island. This will be the fourth entertainment venue of this type in the whole world, alongside Las Vegas, Macau and the Han Show in Wuhan in Western China.

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Public tenders invited for the development of community Centre in Khalifa City B, Abu Dhabi

The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City is poised to invite public tenders shortly to develop a community Centre in Khalifa City B based on Buy-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.

The centre will be funded, built and operated through putting it out to tenders for the private sector, as per preset parameters and rules through which the Municipality intends to build a large-scale network of community centers offering multiple shopping options to community members. Read more

Aldar to build 996 new villas in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi-based, largest property developer, Aldar Properties, today revealed it has won a contract to build 996 villas. The company’s chairman said on the sideline of Cityscape Abu Dhabi, which opened in the capital earlier today. He also added that he expects to see at least 2 percent growth in the emirate’s real estate market this year. Read more

Abu Dhabi to invite tenders for district markets

The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City announces that preparations are in hand for inviting a number of public tenders shortly to develop community markets projects in residential neighborhoods based on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.

The centres will be funded, built and operated through putting them out to tenders for the private sector, as per preset parameters and rules through which the Municipality intends to build a network of community centres.

Undertaking these development ‘&’ investment projects pertaining to activating municipal assets and launching other projects is made in collaboration, partnership and integration with the private sector (PPP) Model, in many tourist, recreational, service and commercial fields.

These projects epitome Abu Dhabi Government’s vision aimed at promoting the integration and cooperation with the private sector, especially with regard to advancing the comprehensive development drive, upgrading public facilities and introducing new projects required by the community in order to provide integrated modern services in a civilised manner in line with the best global standards.

According to the Municipality, the investment ‘&’ development projects’ master plan encompasses the construction of 25 shopping centers in residential districts across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in order to meet the daily needs of Abu Dhabi city neighborhoods. These centers comprise supermarkets, cafes, and restaurants in addition to outlets for providing community/government services.

The Municipality will soon offer four community centers (Residential District Centers) through public tenders in the following neighborhoods: Bani Yas (EB2_03 Sector), Shawamekh (SHM5 Sector), Samha (Samha East Sector), Nahda (Nahda Askariyah Sector).

The Municipality declared that the residential district center penciled to be constructed in Bani Yas spans an estimated area of about 15,200 square meters, whereas Shawamekh Centre takes up an area of about 15,000 square metres. Samha Centre covers an area of about 17,500 square metres while Nahda Centre is set up over a land plot of 20,000 square metres approximately.

The civic body stated that the said four centers contain a variety of shops, restaurants and cafes, not to mention the community facilities such as health clubs, spas, kids playgrounds, nurseries and adults gyms.

According to the Municipality, these projects are part of Abu Dhabi City’s strategy to develop community-based projects throughout the city, as it aspires to construct a community market network based on the concept of “3-in-1″ by the private sector. Each centre consists of three key elements: Community Service Center, Customers Service Center and appropriate Retail Outlets.

In the same context, the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has worked out a detailed plan to specify the social and economic utilities to necessary for the immediate developing of retail outlets, amusement ‘&’ community service centers in the city of Abu Dhabi. The project will thus include constructing sports ‘&’ educational facilities as well as public services associated with the residential community within the community service center. The project also comprises restaurants, cafes and shops, and high quality entertainment venues, which are crucial in shaping the lifestyle of populace; and providing integrated, public ‘&’ community-based services.

A master plan for community markets has been developed for the entire city of Abu Dhabi, where these projects have been classified per neighborhoods or district according to population density and the size ‘&’ type of services required by the population. Each neighborhood center serves about 6,000 to 10,000 people, with a gross floor area of about 7,000 square meters. The district center, on the other hand, serves 30,000 to 40,000 people with a gross floor area of about 21,000 square metres.

The Municipality noted that the community markets initiative reflects the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City’s commitment to prop up the level of community services and provide all resources to ensure a decent living for residents, measuring up to world-class standards and top-class specifications.

Gulf Construction Sector in Q4 of 2012

In last year’s fourth quarter, construction contractors recorded $52 million profit. Profit went 89.7% up from the previous quarter. Though, contractors’ yield fell by 43.7% on year over year basis. Most of the Gulf companies faced better performance in comparison to the third quarter of the same year. The overall profitability of the construction sector saw most support from non-core income contribution. In Q4, the net profitability went up by 89.7% while operating profit fell down by 84.0% on quarter on quarter basis. Read more

UAE construction sector expected to grow by 9.5% until 2016

Currently the Asia Pacific block is considered as a global recovery catalyst. The region is a promising construction investment destination with a strong potential. An evidence in support of that fact is its reported contribution of 11% to the global gross domestic product over the last two years. Read more

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