Palm Deira phase one to open next year

The first phase of The Palm Deira will have affordable accommodation, said a Nakheel official, while laughing off rumours that work on project had come to a halt.
Deira Island (DI) Front will be the first part of The Palm Deira project to be completed. The first phase of DI Front will be thrown open to the public in the first half of next year.
“The promenade will be open to the public; it will contain shops and kiosks,'' said Abdullah Bin Sulayem, Operations Director for The Palm Deira Project. “The next phases of the promenade will include a large shopping mall and an iconic hotel which we will announce at a later date.

“Part of the DI Front will include affordable housing like The Gardens. There are lots of shops and retail areas on The Palm and we don't want workers to be commuting in and out of The Palm, increasing the traffic,'' he said.

However Bin Sulayem said that Nakheel will not force developers to keep the prices affordable. “We can't force investors to do something they don't want to do,'' he said.
The four-kilometre long 30 metre-wide promenade overlooks the Deira corniche.

“The first residents should be moving in by 2011, when three apartment buildings and three office buildings will be completed'' said Bin Sulayem, “We will begin selling plots and apartments in the first quarter of 2009,'' he added.

Another section of the DI Front will be the Business Park. “There is a lack of office space in this part of Deira, this is also part of our vision to allow people to work and live in the same area,'' said Bin Sulayem.

Regarding rumors that The Palm Deira project has been halted, he said they were completely untrue. “When I heard these rumors, I was out there on the site looking at the dredgers working, and was thinking as to where did people get this idea from? For all projects in Nakheel, we are committed to achieving our vision. This includes The Waterfront and other projects. We are not downsising or halting any project,'' he stated.

Nakheel is working with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) on the DI Front.

“Putting 1.3 million people on an island in a congested area is not an easy thing to do, that's why we got the RTA to plan the roads and integrate the metro and marine transport as well,'' says Bin Sulayem. “We have already started infrastructure work on the DI Front.''

The DI Front will have five marinas, including those for commercial and leisure purposes, besides some for abra stations. Each marina will have its own theme.

Three to four thousand workers can be found working at The Palm Deira on any given day. “The DI Front alone is as big as The Palm Jumeirah in terms of land area. Today we are at three times The Palm Jumeirah in available land. This gives you an idea of the scale we are talking about; this is a long-term project.''

Bin Sulayem added that there was no final plan. “We don't want to set anything in stone. Based on the market demand we will adjust the plan,'' he said.

“Reclamation for the entire Palm is scheduled to be completed by 2014,'' said Bin Sulayem.

Deira Island Front