Feasibility study under way for Dubai stadium

06 December 2016

Funding methods including PPP are being considered

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has appointed the UK’s Deloitte to carry out feasibility studies for its Mohammed bin Rashid Stadium development.

The other advisors are understood to be the UK law firm Trowers & Hamlin and Turner & Townsend.

The feasibility study should be complete soon, meaning construction work on the project could be tendered as early as 2017.

The work includes a feasibility study in the first stage, followed by transaction advisory work in later stages.

The original tender involved studying the demand and optimum mix of land use for real estate on a 400,000 square metre area including the stadium, although MEED reported in June that this had been altered. The original scope of work also included evaluating different development models, including traditional engineering, procurement & construction (EPC), public private partnership (PPP), appointing a developer or forming a joint venture, as well as any financing required.

The AED3bn ($817m) stadium will be located in the Al-Awir area of Dubai. The 60,000-seat sports venue will comply with Fifa standards and be the world’s first fully air-conditioned and raised off-the-ground stadium. The complex will also include a training hall, 5,000-space car park, a sports museum and conference halls.

Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) and US-based Perkins+Will are the consultants working on the stadium design.

The RTA has taken the lead on PPP projects in Dubai. It recently accepted bids for the Union Oasis transport oriented development.

It also appointed Deloitte, Trowers and Kuwait’s KEO International Consultants to do a feasibility study on PPP worker accommodation for the Dubai Taxi Corporation.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.