JV Awarded $95 Million Construction Contract for Second Phase of 4,980-Unit Star City Project in Emerging Myanmar Market
A subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd., in a joint venture with SPA Project Management Pte Ltd., has signed a €74 million ($94.6 million) contract to design and build the second phase of Star City in Myanmar.
By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor
Yangon, Myanmar—A subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd., in a joint venture with SPA Project Management Pte Ltd., has signed a €74 million ($94.6 million) contract to design and build the second phase of Star City in Myanmar. The master-planned Star City, a residential estate featuring 4,980 apartments, car parks and communal facilities, is located along the Bago River in the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar.
The joint venture signed the agreement with Thanlyin Estate Development Ltd., marking Bouygues Construction’s first contract in Myanmar. The Dragages Singapore-led joint venture will bring in the development expertise, Bouygues Construction the large-scale international construction experience and SPA Project Management Pte Ltd. will provide local knowledge. SPA Project Management Pte Ltd. and Thanlyin Estate Development Ltd. are part of Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd.
The joint venture will build three blocks of eight-story buildings and two blocks of 12-story buildings, totaling 114,000 square meters (around 1.2 million square feet) of gross floor area and associated infrastructure. Construction work is scheduled to start at the end of April 2013 and the project is due to be completed in less than three years. More than 500 staff and workers will be employed on the project and the joint venture will offer training into modern construction techniques. The know-how is considered a key factor for the success of the project and is also part of the contribution the joint venture aims to bring to the emerging country.
Ever since the opening of Myanmar (former Burma) and the suspension of international economic sanctions by the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union in April 2012, the real estate markets have been seeing a number of development projects emerging, especially in Yangon. Singapore-based Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd. was once again in the spotlight as the company entered into an agreement to purchase an 80 percent stake in a 2 million-square-foot mixed-use development in downtown Yangon.
