Dubai: People working and living in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) area will have another place to shop and dine. US-based Brookfield Property Partners will construct an office tower and retail building in the DIFC district in a joint venture with the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the companies said in a joint press conference on Wednesday.
Located behind the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the ICD Brookfield Place, with a value of more the $1 billion, will have pedestrian pathways to connect the office tower and retail building.
The 53-storey tower will feature 900,000 square feet of office space, with the top three levels comprising sky view suites. The prices of the units were not given.
Located adjacent to the office tower, the 150,000 square foot retail centre will feature a range of retail outlets and fitness and private club facilities.
The development will have an 18,000 square-foot public area, featuring a range of arts and cultural events. It will be framed by restaurants and a food emporium.
Construction of the 1.5 million square foot development is already underway. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018.
“The funding has been secured,” Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaibani, executive director and chief executive of ICD, told reporters on Wednesday. The overall cost of the project will be split 50 per cent from ICD and the rest from Brookfield, he said.
He expects a “15-20 per cent” return on the project.
In September, Bloomberg reported that ICD was raising a $500 million loan to fund the expansion of its Atlantis, The Palm resort in Dubai.
Three years ago, the company borrowed $2.55 billion from both conventional and Islamic facilities to refinance debt.
ICD’s profits attributable to the equity holdings rose to Dh23.8 billion in 2014 from Dh14.6 billion in the previous year.
ICD has holdings in some of the emirate’s top firms, such as Emirates airline and Emaar Properties.
Al Shaibani said that he expects ICD profits in 2015 to be “the same” or “better” compared to 2014.
