Tameer Towers to resume construction by Q1 2012

Tameer Towers will resume construction by Q1 2012 (Supplied Image)

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Work on the stalled $1.9bn Tameer Towers development on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island is set to resume by the first quarter of 2012, a senior Tameer official has told Construction Week.

Planned legal action by dozens of the project’s investors had halted the project as they attempted to get their money back. As of October 2011, 21% of the first phase of the project, Towers A and B of the six tower project were completed, the official, who asked not be be named, told CW.

“Based on the current situation and information available, Tameer anticipates delivery of phase one of Tameer Towers to be in the fourth quarter of 2013. The anticipated construction phase one restart is planned for the first quarter of 2012,” he added.

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“Tower A has now reached structural level 13 and Tower B is at structural level 4,” he said.

“The majority of the most complex structural elements are behind us now,” he added.

The project consists of five residential towers, a commercial tower, stepped townhouses and lofts, serviced apartments, a five star hotel and a canal promenade.

The centre piece of the project is a 74 storey tower which is split at the base and will straddle the canal and a pedestrian walkway that will connect the Central Park to the sea.

Earlier this month, up to 65 buyers in the Al Reem Island project decided to pursue arbitration against developer Tameer Holding Investment. December was scheduled to be the month when legal action began, following the expiration of a clause allowing a six month delay in delivery.

This decision came after the company failed to meet the scheduled delivery date of June 2011. In fact, construction on the project stalled completely during this year’s summer following a labour strike over unpaid wages.

However, the company official disavowed responsibility of the issue, claiming it was an issue related to the project contractor.

“[By] December 2011, legally, Tameer should deliver the whole project,” said Thabit Al Temimi, a legal adviser with the Abu Dhabi based law firm, House of Justice, whose clients have invested in the project.

“Even if they start construction, it means nothing. My clients on the 40th floor cannot live in their apartment if it doesn’t exist.”

Tameer Towers is the latest in a series of projects to be affected by a series of slowdowns in the Abu Dhabi construction market, which last month saw a delay to the planned Louvre and Guggenheim museums on Saadiyat Island.