Nakheel to Complete 8 Residential Projects, 2 Shopping Malls

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(DUBAI, UAE) -- Nakheel's CEO told the web publication Arabian Business today that work is starting this month on completing several residential projects that were halted during the financial crisis. According to Chris O'Donnell, "That is going to be very positive for the market."

The eight residential projects are Al Furjan, Jumeirah Village, Jumeirah Park, Jumeirah Heights Clusters, Veneto, Badhrah, Jumeirah Islands Mansions, and International City. "These projects aren't going to be ghost towns but are going to be completed. We have customers lined up and ready to move into these projects as we complete them," he said.

Two working malls in Dubai developed by Nakheel are slated for expansion, O'Donnell said. "Dragon Mart has continued to be incredibly successful in this downturn," he explained, and "Ibn Battuta mall is the same."

Up to five new malls are planned for next year in developments like Discovery Gardens and Jumeirah Village to add supermarkets and retail stores. "The key focus is to finish the restructuring, get the eight projects back up and running, and then the malls will come next year," said O'Donnell. Nakheel is expected to complete debt restructuring this year.

Meanwhile, O'Donnell shed some light on what will happen to Palm Jebel Ali and The Universe artificial islands planned off Dubai's coast. Palm Jebel Ali which is larger than Palm Jumeirah "is a project that [in the] short term we are not recommencing," said O'Donnell. He said the Universe project is unlikely to continue "in the foreseeable future" and called it "very much a long, long term project."

However, the CEO went out of his way to keep the doors open. "We are definitely retaining all the designs we have done and whether it will be reused or not, who know. The things about Dubai is, never say never," he concluded.

 

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