Dubai pushes ahead with first phase of new USD20b district

Journalists and Emirati officials listen to Morgan Parker (1st left front row), as he explains over the architectural model of the “Jumeriah Central” development

Dubai is pushing ahead with a new USD20 billion district on the city’s main highway, which will include a development of 3,000 homes and 15 hotels designed for residents and visitors to walk around – a rarity in the city.
Construction of the first phase of Jumeirah Central is set to start in mid-2017 and will cost around 24 billion dirhams ($6.5 billion), according to Morgan Parker, chief operating officer at Jumeirah Central, a unit of state-owned Dubai Holding. He declined to say when the first phase would be completed.
“We will be responding to market needs and we’ll also respond to capital, because when capital comes it means investors thought about the market,” Parker told reporters yesterday. The developer is exploring all funding options, including loans and bonds, and is currently in talks with investors on almost all of the 69 projects within the first phase, he said.
Plans for the 47 million square-feet of land have undergone several changes. The first phase, which makes up about a third of the site opposite the Mall of the Emirates, will include 18 residential buildings, 12 office towers, 2,800 hotel rooms, a mall and five parks, Parker said. Zainab Fattah, Bloomberg