Nakheel will shortly begin the tendering process for its latest flagship building to be located on the reclaimed Deira Front area of Palm Deira.
The master developer will go into competition with the nearby Downtown Burj Dubai to attract people to the under-construction Palm, Gavin Boyd, director of development, told Construction Week this morning.
“I don’t like the word iconic,” said Boyd, commenting on the building. “But we have got to compete with the Burj Dubai. That’s the main goal – to get people here.”
An official announcement is expected in the first quarter of 2009. Nakheel is awaiting final approval of the design.
The main section of the building will be a 200-room hotel and surrounded by residential buildings.
Height restrictions, which are in place because of the nearby Dubai International Airport, limit the size of the hotel.
The design of the building, currently called the “iconic tower,” was selected from proposals submitted by four architects.
Australian firms Kann Finch and Mirvac, along with Canadian firm HOK, and US firm Skidmore Owens and Merrill, designer of the Burj Dubai, were invited to compete for the winning design.
Palm Deira operations director for Abdulla bin Sulayem, who is familiar with the design, said that he believes the structure to be “one of the best and most iconic in Dubai,” but refused to reveal the winning architect.
Nakheel said that reclamation work on Palm Deira is proceeding according to its business plan.
Land reclamation on four sections – Deira Front, Deira Central, Deira North, Deira South and Deira Al Mamzar – is nearing completion.
Infrastructure and marine director Khalid Deemaz said 85% of the reclaimed land has been compacted.
Reclamation work will continue on the crescent and trunk sections farther out to sea once sufficient infrastructure is in place on the reclaimed sections, Bin Sulayem explained.
Nakheel plans to develop between 10% and 15% of the Palm Deira itself, with the remaining land being sold to sub-developers.