Luxury development on Corniche is scrapped

A luxury hotel project planned for the Corniche in Abu Dhabi has been scrapped, according to Hilton Worldwide, which was signed to manage the property. Hilton was appointed to manage the 380-room, five-star hotel at the planned Lagoon Club development under its luxury Conrad Hotels brand. "We had one Conrad project in Abu Dhabi where the project was designed, planned, ready to go, construction piling was about to start [but] the government decided to change the use of the land for another purpose," said Andrew Clough, the senior vice president of development at Hilton Worldwide, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) formed a partnership with Mazrui Holdings in 2007 to build a US$400 million (Dh1.46 billion) beach resort, convention centre, office and residential complex. The development was to have been built just east of the capital's existing Hilton Abu Dhabi property, a TDIC statement released at the time said. The convention centre and other buildings would have been set around a 10,000 square metre lagoon.

"It was going to be sensational," Mr Clough said. Construction work was due to start on the project soon after the 2007 statement and was scheduled to be completed by September last year. But the developers announced last year that the project had been put on hold, a source close to the situation said, adding that the land was instead going to be used for office development. Mr Clough said Hilton was in discussions to open more hotels in the capital, including a Conrad.

"We have some other opportunities that we're working at with the Conrad brand in Abu Dhabi," he said. "It's not the first time anywhere in the world that there has been a change in land use." TDIC declined to comment on the project. Hilton expects its Conrad hotel in Dubai to open at the end of next year. @Email:[e-mail]