Dubai
Nakheel and Spain’s RIU Hotels & Resorts have awarded the main contract — valued at Dh385 million — for the construction of an 800-room beachfront resort and water park at Deira Islands.
It will be built by Bin Ladin Contracting Group llc Dubai, which was chosen from a shortlist of 10 contractors who bid. The project is dues for completion in two years. The total investment value is Dh670 million.
“Our first international joint venture will bring a new dimension to Dubai’s hospitality offering by providing a new concept in accommodation and attracting a new market segment to the emirate,” said Ali Rashid Lootah, Nakheel’s Chairman.
The property will offer mid-scale, family-orientated, beachfront accommodation. The resort, RIU’s first in the Middle East, will be one of Dubai’s biggest in terms of the number of hotel rooms.
“Nakheel has proven to be the best partner for our entry in to the Middle East market, and we hope it is the first of other projects to come,” said Joan Trian, RIU’s Financial Director. “In fact, this is a great step forward in our long-term expansion strategy in the Middle East and South East Asia”.
The joint venture is one of 16 projects in Nakheel’s Dh5 billion hospitality expansion programme, under which some 6,000 new rooms and hotel apartments will be delivered.
Deira Islands, which is expected to have a population of 250,000, will add 40 kilometres of coastline to Dubai.
