Posted by Raffles in another thread:
Ambitious Abu Dhabi resort features S'pore link
6 May 05
Helping to design the US$2b centre is a subsidiary of HDB Corp
By LIZA LIN
(SINGAPORE) The United Arab Emirates is coming up with an ambitious US$2 billion floating integrated resort bigger than Singapore's Sentosa and Marina Bayfront resort sites combined - with the help of Singapore-based Surbana International Consultants.
Surbana, a subsidiary of HDB Corp, the corporatised arm of Singapore's Housing and Development Board, is working with the Abu Dhabi-based Four Directions (Four D) group in a joint venture to provide design consultancy for the 83 ha Abu Dhabi resort, AutoPolis. The two sites in Singapore together cover about 52 ha.
Other Middle East projects of the Four D-Surbana partnership include the 188 ha AutoHub and 76,000 sq m Al Hashemi complex. The two are valued at a total of US$520 million.
Louis Tay, senior vice-president of Surbana, said the three projects were the company's first major foray into the Middle East market, with AutoPolis being Surbana International's biggest commercial project so far.
The car-themed resort, which is planned for completion in six years, will house a 210,000 sq m convention centre and related automobile trades, including car showrooms, a vintage car museum and a 6 km test drive circuit.
'It is an iconic project that will put Abu Dhabi on the world map of architectural excellence,' Mr Tay said. 'We hope the development would turn Abu Dhabi into the auto capital of the Middle East.'
Other highlights include a theme park, an executive golf course, a marina and private villas. For religious reasons, a casino is ruled out, Mr Tay said.
The project takes the form of a man-made island shaped like the letters A and D - from the initials of Abu Dhabi - which are supposed to be visible from space.
Mr Tay said it took a team of about 15 professionals four months to come up with the design, and when they presented their idea to their Arab partners, 'there was total silence as they spent a few minutes digesting the contents'.
The team is also designing the AutoHub, featuring car dealer headquarters and workshops, which will be able to house up to 8,000 cars. Another project, the Al Hashemi complex, is a seaside multi-purpose development with a hotel and residential and service apartments.
Interest in AutoPolis is high, Mr Tan said, with several major car manufacturers expressing their commitment during ongoing discussions with their Arab partners.
Abu Dhabi's diversification into tourism and other sectors of the non-oil economy is characteristic of other cities in the region, including Bahrain and Dubai, each of which is sparing little effort in trying to position itself as a business and tourism hub.
Fearing that its oil reserves could be strained by 2010, Abu Dhabi's neighbour Dubai has embarked on a construction frenzy, churning out extravagant developments in recent years to target the rich.
These include the US$3 billion project called The World, a cluster of 300 artificial islands shaped and positioned like countries on a world map, and The Palm, another US$3 billion development shaped like a group of palm trees that will support hotels, homes and theme parks.