New contracting alliance for Abu Dhabi's Tameer Towers development

The Al Habtoor Leighton Group has entered into an AED 6.4 billion (US$ 1.74 billion) alliance contract to construct Abu Dhabi-based Tameer Holdings' Tameer Towers.

The Group's share is AED 2.1 billion (US$ 572 million). The work will be undertaken through the Abu Dhabi division of Al Habtoor Engineering in a joint venture (JV) with Murray & Roberts and Al Rajhi.

The JV will deliver the project under an alliance structure with Tameer, one of the first such alliances in the region.

In a statement David Savage, managing director of the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, said, "It's a credit to our client, Tameer Holdings, to move to a more sophisticated form of project delivery in a true alliance.

"This form of contracting, whilst not previously undertaken in the United Arab Emirates, has been successful elsewhere around the world, particularly in the UK and Australia.

"It is best suited to large-scale, complex and challenging projects, and Tameer Towers fits into this category," he added.

Tameer Towers is located on Al Reem Island (see International Construction, December 2007), and the site covers over 920000 m2 and comprises four residential towers ranging from 42 to 66 floors, a five-star business hotel, a 74-level "premier" office tower, a canal and "significant" public areas, and a marina.

Work on the project will start this month, and will be completed in two stages: the residential stage will be completed in June 2011 and the commercial stage will be completed in December 2011.

The Al Habtoor Leighton Group was established in September 2007 following the merger of Al Habtoor Engineering with the Arabian Gulf operations of Leighton International. The new entity immediately became the UAE's largest construction group, with revenue of over AED 6 billion (US$ 1.63 billion) in 2007.

The Group comprises four key operating divisions: Al Habtoor Engineering Dubai; Al Habtoor Engineering Abu Dhabi; Al Habtoor Engineering Qatar; and Gulf Leighton. Leighton International owns a 45% stake in the Group.

Leighton International is part of the Leighton Group, Australia's largest project development and contracting group with annual revenues exceeding US$ 10 billion.