Sharjah property developer Arada has awarded two contracts worth Dh454 million ($123.6m) to build nine apartment blocks at its Aljada mega project in the Muwaileh area. A contract worth Dh377m was awarded to Dubai-based Airolink Building Contracting to work on the Sokoon buildings, which consist of 482 homes. Work will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed in 20 months, Arada said on Tuesday. Both sets of buildings are based in Naseej District — Aljada’s cultural neighbourhood. Airolink Building Contracting also won a second contract to build The Gate, which consists of two apartment buildings located at the entrance of Aljada. Construction work on the 120 homes in The Gate will also begin immediately and will take 16 months, Arada said. “Sharjah’s most exciting new master development is now growing at an incredible pace, and we’re working hard towards reaching our goal of completing 5,000 homes during 2022,” said Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, group chief executive of Arada. “The award of these two contracts demonstrates our commitment to press ahead with construction at new areas of the Aljada site, which is already one of the most complex project sites anywhere in the region.” Arada has completed nearly 1,500 homes at Aljada so far, with 14 apartments blocks and a garden villa community. About 7,000 units are currently under construction at Aljada. The East Village complex of 16 apartment blocks, the Nest student housing community consisting of 12 apartment blocks and the second Sarab villa community at Aljada are scheduled to be completed before the end of the year, Arada said. The developer last month announced a Dh6.3 billion office park with 4.3 million square feet of leasable space as part of the Aljada master development. It will be built in four phases, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/2022/09/26/arada-to-launch-17bn-office-park-in-sharjah/" target="_blank">Mr Alkhoshaibi told <i>The National</i></a><i>.</i> Aljada is Sharjah’s largest residential project with a number of residential districts, as well as retail, hospitality, entertainment, sporting and educational units and a business park. In total, Aljada will have 25,000 homes when the project is completed by 2025. ___________________________