Alabbar dismisses claims that Dubai’s Emaar has stopped building as “nonsense”

Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Dubai-based developer Emaar, has hit back at reports that the company has halted future projects, describing them as “nonsense”.

“All we have done is stopped new launches during the pandemic. Everyone has, because there is a global pandemic that we are still the middle of. That doesn’t mean we have halted anything. To suggest we have is nonsense,” Alabbar said.

Earlier this week, media reports cited Alabbar as saying that Emaar, Dubai’s largest developer, is temporarily halting new projects.

Read: Emaar’s Alabbar confirms that it has halted new projects as Covid hits property demand

However, Alabbar said many new projects were in the pipeline.

“You only need to look at our website to see what is planned, we have some of our most exciting and innovative projects ever to be rolled out. I can’t be clearer – we haven’t stopped,” he added.

At present, Emaar’s corporate website shows upcoming properties at Emaar Beachfront, Dubai Creek Harbour, Downtown Dubai and Emaar South.

Asked if all of the existing Emaar projects were under construction, he said: “Yes, all our projects, more than 90, are under construction.”

Alabbar also hit back at suggestions the company is responsible for an oversupply of properties in Dubai, forcing prices down.

Damac Properties chairman Hussain Sajwani had last year called out Emaar for continuing to add projects when others had slowed new launches, thus leading to oversupply in the Dubai market.

“Really? Come on. Have you seen how many developers there are in Dubai? You need more than two hands to count them. No, of course not, we are not responsible for any oversupply,” said Alabbar.

Read: Dubai should briefly ‘freeze’ residential supply to balance market – Damac chief