twofour54 cancels Mina Zayed plan

Abu Dhabi's media hub, twofour54, shelves plans to build a campus at Mina Zayed, and will instead choose another location for its planned expansion.

Abu Dhabi's media hub, twofour54, has shelved plans to build a campus at Mina Zayed, and will instead choose another location for its planned expansion.

The Mina Zayed site by the waterfront was to include studios and post-production facilities, a training academy and conference facilities. "twofour54 … confirms it is changing its planned, phase two permanent location away from Mena Zayed. The decision was made following a detailed site analysis and has been taken in consultation with the Abu Dhabi Government," said a spokesman for the company.

"A number of alternative sites are now being evaluated and all details surrounding the new location will be announced in the near future. The timescale for the relocation remains unchanged."

twofour54 currently operates from a cluster near Khalifa Park and other city centre sites. The proposed second stage of the development is to house 12,000 media specialists.

The spokesman said the scale of the future development had not changed.

"twofour54 is fully operational and continues to grow and deliver against its strategic business plan," he said.

"Abu Dhabi's commitment to the project is as strong as ever and we remain an integral part of Abu Dhabi's 2030 plan. This commitment has been reinforced by our growth since launch two years ago," he said.

"There are currently more than 1,000 people working to build a sustainable Arabic media industry at twofour54. These numbers are expected to grow significantly in 2011."

Several architects and consultants had been engaged to work on the Mina Zayed project. The spokesman declined to elaborate on any contractual implications of the cancellation.

The Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), which owns and publishes The National, was to relocate its headquarters to Mina Zayed. A spokeswoman for ADMC declined to comment about the change in location.