Dubai: Dubai's largest private developer, Damac Properties, is focused on completing projects in the Middle East and North Africa but also in talks about work in Iraq after a big project there was shelved, an executive said.
"The focus now is not on launching new projects. We have to consolidate what we started," General Manager Zeid Al Chaar told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
Its main developments are at home in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt and the company expects to hand over seven projects, totaling 3,900 units of residential, retail and commercial space in Dubai by the first quarter of 2011, Al Chaar said.
It has delivered 3,500 units this year, he added.
Damac is building 12,500 units across its markets in the Gulf Arab region, Egypt and Lebanon, most set to be handed over by early 2013.
Luxury focus
It also has projects in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In July, Damac awarded a $120 million (Dh440.68 million) contract in Jeddah to Drake & Scull International, as more UAE property firms tap huge demand in Saudi Arabia.
Several developers in the United Arab Emirates have changed their portfolios since the economic downturn to include building homes for middle and low income sectors, but Damac is staying with the luxury segment.
"This is the core competence of the company," Al Chaar said.
Dubai, the tourist and business hub of the Gulf, was hit hard by the financial crisis as thousands of jobs were cut forcing expatriates to leave.
Billions of dollars worth of projects were also put on hold or cancelled and property prices slumped some 50 per cent from their peaks.
"With prices moving towards a more affordable arena, I think from all the countries where we originally had buyers, we are seeing those buyers coming back," Al Chaar said, adding typical buyers were now buying properties for living and leasing purposes rather than quick sales.
Damac cut a number of jobs as a result of the economic downturn but has been hiring "for some time" in the project management department as it looks to complete projects, he said.
