Although a number of displays at last month's Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2009 looked like they had seen a few exhibitions before, the Al Maabar International Investment's stand profiled something new for investors.
In January, the Abu Dhabi property developer announced that it would build the Dh37 billion Marsa Zayed waterfront real estate and tourism development in Aqaba, on the Red Sea coast of Jordan. Investors were able to get a glimpse of the development, which is predicted to generate 15,000 jobs in the port city, at Cityscape.
Developed by Al Maabar, the group's Jordan-based subsidiary, Marsa Zayed will be the largest property development in the country with a 2km waterfront and 6 million m² of built-up area. Once complete, it will feature more than 18,000 residential units (villas, townhouses and apartments), 3,000 hotel rooms and more than 300 marina berths.
At the project's launch, Al Maabar announced that these facilities would transform Aqaba into a premier yachting destination. Taking a broader perspective, Al Maabar's managing director, Yousef Al Nowais, views the development as important to regional ties.
"We take great pride in our partnership with Jordan and are very confident that this relationship will only strengthen as Marsa Zayed becomes a landmark project and a major economic stimulus for the Kingdom", he says.
"Al Maabar creates iconic developments that are designed not only to make a profit, but to also add real value to countries we invest in, through job creation, talent development, knowledge transfer and economic stimulus."
The project will centre on the main port, which will be relocated by the government, and surrounding areas. It will comprise tourism facilities, commercial buildings, financial and retail districts, high-rise residential towers, recreational and entertainment districts and several branded waterfront hotels and resorts, as well as a cruise ship terminal. Master planned by Callions, phase one of this massive 3.2 million m² mixed-use project will commence in the first half of 2010. This 2 million m² site is anticipated to be completed by 2015. Phase two will consist of the development of another 1.2 million m² site, which is expected to be completed by 2020.
The Abu Dhabi-based group is also involved in two other projects in Jordan the Khalda retail development in the city centre of Amman, the capital, and Abdoun, a mixed-use project. Al Maabar (The Gateway in Arabic) was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between Abu Dhabi developers Mubadala Development Company, Sorouh Real Estate, Aldar Properties, Al Qudra Real Estate and Reem Investments. The group currently has projects under development in Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar and Belarus. More recently, it announced a mixed-use project in Baghdad, Iraq.
If its progress reports are accurate, the company is making ground in a region hit by a liquidity shortage. According to Al Maabar, its Bab Al Bahr mixed-use project in Rabat, Morocco will be completed by 2011. Construction has started on the Al Waha mixed-use project in Libya, which will be finished by 2012. In Qatar, the group is developing La Plage South district of The Pearl, Doha's equivalent of Palm Jumeirah, which will be completed in 2011.
At Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2009, Al Nowais announced that all the group's projects were on schedule. "In just two years, we have quickly established ourselves as an influential force in international real estate,"
he said. "Cityscape Abu Dhabi provides us with the ideal platform to showcase the significant progress we are now making in our projects. The current global economic climate has meant that real estate developers have to adopt a more sustainable and responsible business approach. This is something we have practised since our inception," said Al Nowais. "It is through our responsible fiscal planning and our approach to always deliver the needs of the communities we invest in, which has ensured that we continue to grow organically for the long-term."
In October, Al Nowais announced that despite the global downturn, Al Maabar would spend $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) over the next three years on the development of the company's various regional projects.
"We have secured the funds," said the managing director. "The funding of our projects is by our stakeholders and others. There's no immediate need for us to raise money on the capital markets."
Al Maabar's commitment to the project is positive news for Jordan. To reduce the impact of the international financial downturn, Jordan's central bank has injected liquidity into the economy, cut reserve requirements and lowered interest rates. A recent report by the US-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that regional growth will slow to 2.5% in 2009. The same report forecasted that Jordan's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will drop to 3-4%.
The fact that the Jordanian dinar is pegged to the US dollar has helped the country during the credit crunch, according to the IMF. "The exchange rate peg, which has provided stability in the challenging global environment, remains an appropriate nominal anchor," the report stated. A recent IMF mission to the country concluded that, "Jordan's limited integration with global financial markets has buffered it from recent turmoil. At the same time, strong trade links with the region and rest of the world, which have underpinned robust economic growth in recent years, imply that the global economic downturn will affect the domestic economy. Managing the prospective slowdown is the key near-term challenge." In context, these are positive sentiments.
