Nakheel awards Dh184.5m contract for new Ibn Battuta hotel

DUBAI

Developer Nakheel on Tuesday awarded a Dh184.5 million construction contract for a second hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall.

Dubai-based Parkway International Contracting LLC was appointed to build the 375-room hotel, which has a total project value of Dh240 million.

The new hotel will be operated by Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group under its AVANI brand.

Nakheel’s first hotel at Ibn Battuta is a 372-room Premier Inn that opened last October.

With a built-up area of 278,000 sq ft, the 15-floor AVANI Ibn Battuta Mall will feature an all-day restaurant, pool, gym and parking for 135 vehicles. It will be built next to the mall’s Metro link.

The hotel is part of a large-scale, phased expansion at Ibn Battuta that will turn the mall into a sprawling mixed-use community, Nakheel said in a statement.

As well as the Premier Inn opening, last year Nakheel also opened 150 new shops at the mall.

In February Nakheel announced Dh850 million worth of new projects including a 55-floor residential tower, a 16-screen dine-in cinema complex and a 600-space car park.

When complete, the complex will have 2.2 million sq ft of shop space, 810 apartments and 747 hotel rooms.