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Nakheel plans more 'innovative' projects |
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| DUBAI — Nakheel, Dubai's largest master developer, intends to launch more "innovative" projects, with a vision to "build communities, not just real estate," Robert Lee, Nakheel's executive director, investment projects, told Khaleej Times. He also said that Nakheel would be announcing new projects in about three months. The emerging trend in Dubai is for developers to build self-sustaining communities with a mix of residential, commercial and hospitality projects. The aim is to create an environment where residents can live, work and be entertained. "We want to build livable communities," said Lee. But in an economy like Dubai where such developments are becoming commonplace is it not likely that supply will exceed demand? It would be unlikely, he said, because Nakheel, which controls about 50 per cent of the available land in Dubai, "can control the supply of land and how much is released." Recently, Nakheel also launched its international division "to create its real estate developments internationally," said Lee. To date, Nakheel's sister company Limitless has been mandated to expand Dubai World's international portfolio, but under the new arrangement both companies will develop international ventures, he said. Dubai World, which is owned by the Government of Dubai, is the parent company of both Limitless and Nakheel. The reason for expanding abroad "is the brand strength of Nakheel," said Lee. "We are frequently being asked to work on real estate developments worldwide," he said, adding: "We are working on several projects now." In terms of Nakheel's future financing options Lee said that an initial public offering (IPO), or the issuance of an Islamic bond (sukuk), are financing options that could be considered, but that nothing was confirmed. This is in spite of the fact that Nakheel's Dh3.5 billion partly convertible sukuk would be expiring in January 2009. "We choose to be private at this stage," he said. He also emphasised the importance of Nakheel ensuring adherence to high standards of corporate governance. "Just because we are not a public company does not mean we should not have high levels of corporate governance," he said. Separately, Nakheel also announced yesterday that the reclamation on The World development is almost complete. Three hundred islands and breakwater have been reclaimed "to an extent that they create an almost-perfect representation of the world map," a company statement said. The reclamation is due to be complete at the end of the year. As a result of projects such as The Palm Trilogy and The World, an extra 1,000 kilometres will be added to Dubai's coastline. |
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