CAPITALAND has unveiled its plans and design for a huge mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi it is developing in partnership with a local firm.

The residential, leisure, sports and retail development called Arzanah surrounds the Zayed Stadium at the gateway to Abu Dhabi island.

It will hold an estimated 9,000 homes and a projected number of 18,000 residents. More than two million visitors a year are expected.

The project itself is in the Grand Mosque District and just minutes away from Abu Dhabi city centre.

CapitaLand announced the mixed development in June last year, and said at the time that the project could cost up to US$5 billion (S$6.8 billion).

It had then formed a joint venture with Mubadala Development Company - an investment and development vehicle owned by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. CapitaLand's share of the US$300 million initial investment was $238 million.

The actual vehicle for the project - Capitala - was launched this year. Mubadala owns 51 per cent, with CapitaLand controlling the rest.

Arzanah will sit on a 1.4 million sq m area and boast manicured gardens, a 2km stretch of private beach, a canal and shopping in an open- air, climate-controlled environment.

It will also offer residents and visitors a 40-lane bowling centre, an ice rink, an aquatic centre, a tennis complex and the Mubadala-owned Abu Dhabi Knee and Sports Medicine Centre.

Mr Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mubadala's chief operating officer, said the group's real estate and hospitality division is making investments to address the growing need for high-quality residential real estate and related services in Abu Dhabi.

Piling has already started, and the project will be completed in phases from 2011.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on May 13, 2008

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