Construction of Meena Plaza in Abu Dhabi’s Port Zayed to resume after two-year suspension

The block of three apartment towers and one office tower was started at the end of 2007 but stalled in 2012.

Work on Meena Plaza will restart on October 1 after a hiatus of two years. Lee Hoagland / The National

Construction work on a stalled Dh980 million property development in Abu Dhabi’s Port Zayed is set to restart next month after its owners and builders settled a long-running dispute.

Work on Meena Plaza, a partially-built development of four high-rise towers in the centre of Abu Dhabi’s historic former container port, will restart on October 1 after a hiatus of two years, the Malaysian contractor Zelan said yesterday.

The block of three apartment towers and one office tower, which is being developed by Meena Plaza, a company owned by the private Abu Dhabi developer Tamouh and other investors, was started at the end of 2007 but stalled in 2012.

The 246,500 square metre project was designed in 2007 to include such luxury additions as a helipad sun bathing deck, a covered Jacuzzi and wading pool as well as a cinema and private medical centre.

But in November 2012 Meena Holdings ordered work to stop.

After protracted negotiations between the two companies, Meena Holdings yesterday paid Zelan Dh121.63m to resume work on the project, the contractor said in a bourse filing.

The pair also agreed to revise the contract price up to Dh980.05m from an original Dh950.03m, to include additional fit-out work worth Dh30.02m.

Port Zayed has been earmarked for redevelopment since container operations were moved to Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port operation near Taweelah in 2012.

According to the city’s 2030 Vision, the area had been earmarked to be redeveloped as a massive new media hub, but this is understood to have been later moved to a site on Yas Island. Instead Port Zayed, which is also known for its busy fish market, is likely to be redeveloped as residential neighbourhoods, planning sources said.

Property agents in Abu Dhabi welcomed the news of the resumption of work on the project.

“The recommencement of residential projects in Abu Dhabi such as Meena Plaza is positive news for residents,” said David Dudley, the regional director at JLL’s Abu Dhabi office. “There is a continuing shortage of housing across all price points due to a reduction in supply completions and a recovery in demand driven by government spending initiatives – and this has been pushing up rents.”

However, the revival of the project may not indicate that other stalled developments in the city are also about to be restarted, agents said.

Abu Dhabi’s real estate market was hit hard by the global financial crisis, leaving dozens of half-built tower blocks littering the capital’s skyline in areas such as Reem Island.

“We don’t think that this news will presage any resumption of the other stalled schemes in the capital,” said one agent who asked not to be named. “Many of these are still in distress with no likelihood of resuming development any time soon.”

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