ARABTEC Holding, a leading engineering and construction group of companies, has signed a major agreement to design and construct 37 towers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, for a value of Dh22.44 billion ($6.11 billion).

Arabtec Construction, an Arabtec subsidiary, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aabar Properties, a real estate development, management and investment company and a subsidiary of Aabar Investments.

The memorandum, which is considered one of the largest in the real estate sector in the region and Arabtec’s biggest project by value, was signed in Abu Dhabi by Khadem Abdulla Al Qubaisi, chairman of the board of Aabar properties, and Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, managing director and CEO of Arabtec Holding.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arabtec will construct 37 mixed-use, residential, and hotel towers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, including nine mixed-use towers in the Tomouh City of Lights development in Abu Dhabi, on a total plot area of 900,000 sq ft and offering a built-up area of 14 million sq ft. In addition, Arabtec will construct four mixed-use towers in Reem Island development.

The residential component of the memorandum includes 14 towers – two in Rawdhat Abu Dhabi (total plot area of 64,673 sq ft); seven in Al Raha Beach (total plot area of 1 million sq ft), three in Maysan (total plot area of 160,000 sq ft), and two in Shams (total plot area of 200,000 sq ft) – with a total plot area of 1.9 million sq ft – and a built-up area of 14 million sq ft.

The memorandum also includes the construction of a five-star hotel on an 18,858-sq-ft plot in a prime location on the Abu Dhabi Corniche. It will be the first Hard Rock hotel in the region.

In Dubai, Arabtec will build three mixed-use towers in Business Bay, and six new hotels and serviced apartment towers in Aljaddaf district, adjacent to the Culture Village development. Occupying a total plot area of 300,000 sq ft and offering a built-up area of 3 million sq ft, these include a five-star hotel to be managed by Swissotel, a four-star hotel managed by Hilton, a three-star hotel managed by Park Inn, as well as three serviced apartment buildings to be operated by Fraser Suites.

The new hotels in Aljaddaf district are the latest additions to Arabtec’s hotel and hospitality portfolio which includes Abu Dhabi’s iconic seven-star Emirates Palace hotel, as well as a host of towers and resorts for world-renowned hospitality brands in the UAE, including the Palazzo Versace in Dubai, the Fairmont Abu Dhabi Hotel and Serviced Apartments, and the Tiara hotel on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

Construction work is scheduled to begin shortly and all projects will be delivered before 2020. Arabtec and Aabar Properties are in the final stages of signing definitive agreements, including mechanisms for the implementation of the projects.

Khadem Al Qubaisi, the chairman of Aabar Properties, said that the company – which is a principal shareholder in Arabtec – will assign all construction work in its $20-billion real estate portfolio in the UAE, US, Morocco, Jordan, Serbia and other countries to Arabtec.