Dubai: Nakheel is going ahead with the sale of some plots on the Palm Deira in November as company officials of the Dubai-based developer allayed speculation that the global financial turmoil has dampened investor interest.
The biggest of the palm-shaped artificial islands in Dubai, the 42-square-kilometre project located between the mouth of Dubai Creek and Port Hamriya, has been 36 per cent reclaimed and is on track to welcome the first batch of residents in the next two to three years, company officials said yesterday.
"The Palm Deira is alive and on track," said Gavin Boyd, the project's development division director.
The project is expected to draw 1.3 million residents, and will be almost as big as Manhattan, 7.5 times bigger than the Palm Jumeirah and five times bigger than Palm Jebel Ali. About 55 per cent of the development will be allotted for residential use, 28 per cent for commercial and 17 per cent for mixed use.
"If you flip the island into the city, it goes beyond the Dubai airport and reaches up to uptown Mirdif, which is 12.5km away," said Abdullah Bin Sulayem, operations director of Palm Deira.
In an interview, Bin Sul-ayem said the credit squeeze is not discouraging them from launching the sale of Palm Deira plots next month, and added that investors continue to show a huge appetite for new properties in Dubai.
"We don't see any impact from the global crisis. The demand is always there. Our neighbouring projects in Port Rashid showed very successful sales. So, we know that if people are willing to pay that premium for land, we know that there's huge demand and people are still searching for properties in this area," Bin Sulayem told Gulf News.
Bin Sulayem estimated that about 350,000 cubic metres of sand have been used to reclaim the islands. Almost complete is the big patch of land at the base of the palm called Deira Island Front which is now 85 per cent reclaimed. Another sizeable patch called Deira Island Central is now 66 per cent reclaimed. Deira Island North is 72 per cent reclaimed, while Deira Island Mamzar is about 62 per cent filled up. The rest of the islands are slowly taking shape, with the trunk now 7.7 per cent filled up, the crown 22 per cent and the fronds only about one per cent.
Nakheel officials also announced yesterday that Palm Deira will have three 12-lane bridges that will link the island to mainland Deira between the mouth of Dubai Creek and Port Hamriya via Abu Baker Al Siddique Road, Abu Hail Road and Omar Bin Khattab Road.
Decking has been laid for the first of the planned bridges, joining Abu Baker Al Siddique Road and is due for completion in May next year. The access road to Deira will be completed next month. A state-of-the-art sales centre is also being developed and will have a grand opening early next year.
Bin Sulayem also assured that as the project is located in the most congested area in Dubai, they are closely working with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to address traffic bottlenecks in the future and to provide residents with easy access to and from the island.
"The modifications that need to be done for the road infrastructure reach as far as Jumeirah and Safa Park. The Palm Deira transit system will be connected with the RTA's transit system. There will be facilities that will take you directly to the airport and a water transportation system linking the project to Sharjah and other islands will be in place," Bin Sulayem said.
