Dubai developer Nakheel to announce $871m of projects

Dubai-based developer Nakheel has said it will announce Dhs3.2bn ($871.2m) of projects at next week’s Cityscape Global conference.

The announcements will include six new residential, retail and hospitality developments at four of its communities in Dubai including the Palm Jumeirah, the developer said.

Nakheel currently has a project pipeline of Dhs50bn ($13.6bn) spanning 15,000 hectares and has awarded Dhs7bn ($1.9bn) of construction contracts so far this year.

The firm said it expects to award Dhs12bn ($3.2bn) of contracts by year-end.

“We continue to deliver and diversify in line with government goals and our own business strategy. And while development remains our core business, we are focussing on growing our hospitality, retail and leasing divisions by creating a range of new hotels, resorts, F&B destinations, malls and tourists attractions across the city,” said Nakheel chairman Ali Rashid Lootah.

At the end of August, the company opened its revamped leisure outlet Jebel Ali Club and it is continuing work on a number of major developments including mega project Deira Islands, the Palm Gateway and Nad Al Sheba Mall.

Read: Dubai’s Nakheel opens revamped Jebel Ali Club

The firm announced a 10.5 per cent dip in profit in the first half of the year to Dhs2.64bn from Dhs2.95bn seen in the same period in 2016.

However, it said it saw a significant increase in revenues from non-development businesses including retail, leasing, hospitality and asset management services.

Read: Dubai’s Nakheel reports 10.5% drop in first half net profit

In today’s announcement, Nakheel said it had seen an “upturn in sales of ready properties, off-plan properties and land plots over the last few months”, amid a wider downturn in the Dubai real estate market.

Real estate firm Asteco said average quarterly sales prices were down 3 per cent for apartments, 2 per cent for villas and 2 per cent for offices in the second quarter of the year.

Read: Dubai property prices, rents continue to decline in Q2