The ground-breaking ceremony was held this afternoon immediately following the contract announcement.
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A joint venture between Dubai-based Arabtec Construction and Abu Dhabi-based National Projects and Construction (NPC) has been awarded the US $436 million (AED1.6 billion) main construction contract for the Nation Towers project on the Abu Dhabi corniche.
The mixed-use project is being developed by Abu Dhabi-based private investment firm International Capital Trading (ICT).
The total value of the development has slid from estimates made last year by ICT of $762 million to $545 million, a fall of almost 30%, ICT COO Haythem Haidar revealed at a press conference and ground-breaking ceremony held this morning.
The fall in value comes as a result of the steep decline in building costs, itself a result of the GCC-wide construction slowdown.
Hamad Al Shamsi, CEO of ICT said the developer has already secured the necessary funding for the project through a consortium of banks, including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and the National Bank of Dubai.
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Both Arabtec CEO Riad Kamal and NPC general manager Paul Majoor said they hoped working on the Nation Towers would pave the way for the joint venture to pursue further contracts.
“We like to think that at the end of the project both companies will have benefited from the marriage and we will hope to collaborate on further projects in the future,” Kamal said.
Majoor said, “A project such as Nation Towers comes along very rarely. It serves as a reminder of the strength that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has shown in these wretched times.”
Nation Towers includes two buildings comprising a 64-storey residential tower, a 50-storey hotel and office tower and a retail podium. The two towers will be connected by a sky bridge at the 48th level.
The site will also feature an underground tunnel beneath Abu Dhabi corniche linking the towers to a beach club.
US-based Hill International is project manager. Roya International, WZMH Architects, and KEO International Consultants will all play consultancy roles.
Kamal compared the project to Emirates Palace Hotel, which Arabtec worked on a decade ago. “We thought that was the most challenging venue along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“However, about a year ago when we first learned about the Nation Towers, we made sure that we did everything we could do to play a hand in the project.”
Kamal added that the Nation Towers would be “another icon, and another feather in our hat.”
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