Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Hilina Alemu
17 August 2009
The private architectural firm, National Consultants, is emerging as a potential contender to bag a multimillion Birr consulting contract from the Ethiopia Airlines (ET), which is planning to build its own four-star hotel in a vast plot near Bole International Airport, sources disclosed.
National Consultants has done similar works for the airline, on the design and supervision works of the modern cooling facility constructed by MIDROC Construction.
The department in the ET responsible for administrating bid submissions by contending firms, managed by Daniel Abebe, head of Facilities Planning and Management Division, has now finalized its evaluation of both technical and financial proposals from the firms for the hotel's design and supervision works. Following the first announcement in January 2009, three firms - Ultimate Plan Plc, National Consultants and ETG Designers and Consultants - have entered into the bid, with their respective foreign partners.
The firm selected to take the contract will be responsible to design the hotel, and provide consultancy and supervision works for three years during the construction life of the project. The hotel is projected to cost close to 300 million Br, including its physical construction, finishing and furnishing.
The hotel project is one of the four major investments the airline plans to undertake in the next few years. The others are construction of facilities for the catering services, expansion of the aviation academy and installation of simulator for B787 (Dreamliner).
Troubled with the insufficient number of rooms in economy size hotels available in town, and some of its passengers complaining about the quality of services and infrastructure, the airline is determined to run its own hotel, to be built on a 40,000sqm plot located at the northern end of Africa Avenue (Bole Road).
The bidders who want to design the hotel have offered prices ranging from 20 million Br to 30 million Br, according to sources.
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