Master developer Nakheel has awarded four contracts – collectively worth more than Dh430 million ($117 million) – for Deira Islands, its new, 15.3-sq-km waterfront city currently under construction in Dubai, UAE.

The contracts, covering islands A and B of the four-island development, are for a sewage treatment plant, a district cooling plant, a substation and piling work for an 800-room resort.

Nakheel has now invested nearly Dh7.5 billion ($2 billion) in infrastructure and construction contracts for Deira Islands so far. More are due soon, a statement said.

The latest contracts awards are:

•    Dh228.3 million to VWS Emirates/Butec (Dubai Branch) under a joint venture for the design, construction and 10 years’ operation and maintenance of a sewage treatment plant;

•    Nearly Dh100 million to Emirates District Cooling (Emicool) to build a district cooling plant for Nakheel’s Deira Islands Night Souk and nearby Nakheel buildings, with 10 years’ operation and maintenance;

•    Dh90.5 million for a 132/11-kV substation to AG Power, covering the South island (Island A). Three other substations are already construction. Deira Islands will have eight substations in total;

•    Dh14.5 million to Delta Foundations (Dubai branch) for piling works for the 800-room RIU beach front resort, Nakheel’s joint venture hospitality project with Spain’s RIU Hotels and Resorts. A construction tender for the resort was issued in May, and is due to be awarded by the end of this year.

With a diverse range of retail projects, resorts, hotels and residential developments, Deira Islands will transform Dubai’s Deira district into a world-class hub for tourism, retail and entertainment. The waterfront city will add 40 km, including 21 km of beach, to Dubai’s coastline and pave the way for the development of hundreds of hotels, residences and attractions. Deira Islands is expected to have a population of 250,000 and to create 80,000 jobs.

In April, Nakheel awarded a construction contract worth Dh4.2 billion for Deira Mall, the centrepiece of Deira Islands and Dubai’s biggest shopping mall in terms of retail space.  Meanwhile, Deira Islands Night Souk, with more than 5,300 waterside shops and restaurants, is under construction and due to open in 2018. – TradeArabia News Service