Nakheel ready to venture abroad

Dubai: Real estate giant Nakheel, the UAE developer building three Palm-shaped islands in Dubai, is gearing up to make its first investments outside its domestic market through newly formed subsidiary Nakheel International.

"We're actively pursuing a number of opportunities and I'm confident that in the next few months we'll launch our first major developments," Nakheel chief executive officer Chris O'Donnell told Gulf News.

"But the risk associated in going international, such as issues on planning laws, currencies and taxes, means we have to have those well thought through before we push forward with any developments," he said.

Partnerships

O'Donnell said Nakheel International will most likely venture overseas through partnerships in each market.
"Associating yourself with major brands makes a difference. Dubai World has relationships with MGM in the United States, as well as Kerzner and Trump," he said.

"If we can club together those relationships then there's an opportunity in some of the major centres around the world. However, a certain portion of our portfolio will be in emerging markets."

O'Donnell said Nakheel International will not restrict itself to developing overseas waterfront projects, despite its experience in building the Palm Trilogy.

In Dubai, Nakheel is planning to launch several new projects over the next three month. O'Donnell said the majority of upcoming project launches will be apartments and villas on existing master developments such as the Palms and Dubai Waterfront.

"Within the next three months we'll launch a large number of new projects which will be spread across our major land holdings," he said.

Although Nakheel owns around 50 per cent of the developable land in Dubai for the next ten years and has launched projects on just 10 per cent of this, O'Donnell said the company will focus on building units on existing projects rather than launch new master developments or add to its land bank.

In the long term, Nakheel will build projects to satisfy demand for affordable housing, he added.

"There is a need for mid- to low-sector accommodation and that's something that we're very keen to pursue. I think you'll see that as the economy evolves the housing offering has to evolve as well," he said.

Turning to the retail sector, O'Donnell said Nakheel will double the size of Ibn Battuta mall near Dubai Marina and build large scale malls at Dubai Waterfront and Palm Deira.