US firm wins deal to manage Emirati homes plan

US-based Parsons has said that it has won a project management contract for land in Abu Dhabi allocated for the construction of more than 12,000 villas for UAE nationals. The contract, awarded by Abu Dhabi General Services (Musanada), will see Parsons manage the development of the Shamkha South site which comprises nearly 4,000 hectares of land. A total of 12,460 villas for UAE citizens, along with a central business district and various community facilities, are set to be built on the site, Parsons said in a statement. Under the contract, Parsons will be responsible for managing the site infrastructure, including roads, street lighting, road marking, signage, and traffic signals. It will also be responsible for water distribution networks, reservoirs, and pumping stations, as well as power distribution networks and substations; and storm drainage networks. Musanada is currently managing the delivery of the AED7bn development to provide utility-serviced plots for Emiratis. "We have successfully delivered several landmark infrastructure projects in the UAE, and we are committed to making this project a success by combining the expertise of our people with the experience we've had as a company in the Emirates," said Guy Mehula, Parsons MENA+ president. Parsons has been working in the MENA+ region (Middle East, North Africa, and the northern Mediterranean Sea border countries) for more than 60 years and has offices in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Rome, Istanbul, and Athens. Last month, Parsons said it had been awarded a contract to master plan thousands of new homes in Saudi Arabia. The award of the first package released by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Housing as part of a programme to build 500,000 houses over the next few years comprises 32 million sq m of land. The package is divided into 11 sites spread across the kingdom with each site ranging from 10 million sq m in Dammam to 729,000 sq m in Khamis Mushayt.