Contracts update

Bovis Lend Lease and Hunt Construction are in talks to provide construction management services for a stadium to be built by US baseball team New York Mets. Lend Lease revealed that the Bovis-Hunt joint venture could provide construction management services on the £315.7m ($550m) stadium project starts later this year. The joint venture is currently providing pre-construction services for the stadium. Hunt has a 55% stake while Bovis has 45%. Lend Lease has also been awarded the £138.6m (Aus$330m) design and construction contract to deliver the Rouse Hill Town Centre, Sydney, for GPT Group.

Cyril Sweett is providing key advice on an £8bn, 35-year Ministry of Defence contract to provide accomodation and services for army garrisons at Aldershot and Salisbury Plain. The firm is offering cost planning and management, whole life performance and value management consultancy to the Aspire Defence consortia, headed by contractor Carillion, which signed the contarct with the MOD last month. EC Harris is also acting as technical and investment risk manager for the Aspire consortia. The firm has worked on the project since 2002 and has had a 14-strong team on the project since 2004.

Nakheel has been appointed Mott MacDonald cost consultant on the first phase of the Jumeirah Golf Estates development, Dubai. The project's first phase occupies about 375ha of the 1,119ha site. Initial work includes the first of two golf courses, around 1,000 serviced villa plots, and a commercial retail centre. Golf legends Greg Norman and Vijay Singh are working closely with the Nakheel project development team on planning and engineering design.

In Peterboroough, Nene Housing Society has appointed five firms onto its employers' agent/QS framework 2005-9. The five appointments are Davis Langdon, Henrey Riley, Philip Pank Partnership, Playle and Partners and Robinson Low Francis. The estimated total value of the contracts is between £150,000 and £500,000.