$95bn Satwa redevelopment delayed

PROJECT DELAY: Jumeirah Garden City will stretch north of Sheikh Zayed Road, 150 kilometres to the south. (Getty Images)

The planned $95 billion redevelopment of the ageing Satwa area of Dubai is being "revisited" with some parts of the project to be delayed in the wake of the global financial crisis and downturn in the local real estate market, the company behind the project has said.

"The master plan [of Jumeirah Garden City] is being revisited and pockets of the development are delayed," a spokesperson for Meraas Development was quoted as saying by UAE daily Gulf News on Monday.

Jumeirah Garden City, launched at Dubai's Cityscape real estate expo in October, is billed as an "an integrated city within a city" that will stretch north of Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai's main highway, 150 kilometres to the south.

Jumeirah Garden City is the latest mega-project to be pushed back due to the financial crisis, which has hit demand from foreign investors and made borrowing much more difficult locally.

Dubai-owned developer Nakheel said on Sunday it was delaying parts of several of its flagship projects, including the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, The Universe and Waterfront.

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READERS' COMMENTS

rents are going down
Posted by michaelz, canada on Monday 1 December 2008 at 23:32 UAE time


rents WILL go down with the property market. as home owners struggle to sell, they will be forced to rent. this combined with all of the supply entering the market in Q1 and Q2, rents will go down.

that being said, people are going to start being vacuumed out of dubai with the faltering economy (creating more vacancies). hence, considering the global economic crisis, just hope you have a job to be able to pay rent.

Satwa Redevelopment
Posted by mark groundsell, dubai, uae on Monday 1 December 2008 at 21:09 UAE time


You suggest Jumeira Gardens will stretch 150kms south of Shk Zayed Road. That would take you well into Abu Dhabi. I don't think even Meraas are planning to go so far.

impact on rents
Posted by Monty on Monday 1 December 2008 at 15:01 UAE time


Lee asks about the impact on rents.

My take is that all the tens of thousands of people who would have built these projects need somewhere to live. The people who ran the restaurants to feed them, sold them cars, etc... they would need places to live too. Now none of these people will even be in Dubai.

Of the tens of thousands of people who have been involved in construction here, significant numbers are losing their jobs. The same in real estate, and now banking. They will go home, their apartments and villas will be empty. And there is new supply being finished all the time.

I'd guess rents will start falling drastically pretty soon - if they aren't falling already.

Protect Satwa
Posted by Hazel Gordon on Monday 1 December 2008 at 12:26 UAE time


As its foundation, it was really shameful evicting people from their homes and razing out many still new villas in Satwa and changing lives of thousands in a very brainless plan caused by mere greed. Satwa was one of the best liveliest place in Dubai and should be reserved and protected as a historic, remarkable place to visit by the world tourists and illustrate the two old and new faces of Dubai . Don't turn Satwa to a graveyard of Dubai true culture. Who do you want to impress? Which city in the world is alive without its older sites. Putting on hold of this unrealistic plan is the best thing came out of the recession. Hope they cancel it completely and think of development on infrastructure, transport, energy saving,.... others most important elements of development and not ruining what was beautifully built through years.

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