City of Arabia phase 1 'ready by end of 2010'

MEGA PROJECT: The $5 billion City of Arabia development in Dubai.

The first phase of the $5 billion City of Arabia retail, residential, commercial and entertainment development will open by the end of 2010, project chiefs have pledged.

With round-the-clock construction work entering a new phase, City of Arabia owners, the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group , commissioned a new range of artist's impressions have announced a phased opening starting towards the end of 2010.

The opening will begin with Mall of Arabia, one of the world's largest shopping destinations, which will have a gross leasable area (GLA) of 10 million sq ft over two phases.

With workers onsite casting about 60 pile caps per week on the 20 million sq ft site in Dubai, owners said the mall was rapidly taking shape.

Construction work is also progressing on Wadi Walk, City of Arabia's waterfront community which includes apartments, outdoor cafes and retail outlets set beside an eight kilometre canal.

And building work has now commenced on I&M Tower, Metro Tower and Wadi Tower, the first three of the high-rise commercial and residential buildings.

Mall of Arabia will offer more than 1,400 diverse retail outlets, and the first phase is already 89 percent contracted and reserved, bosses added.

It will also feature a rooftop hotel, waterfront alfresco dining and entertainment for all the family, as well as Restless Planet theme park and earth science museum.

Mustafa Galadari, the Group's vice chairman and managing director, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group said: "Construction work is continuing to go full steam ahead, and major visible progress is now particularly evident at Mall of Arabia, which is a very exciting development in its own right."

City of Arabia, which will become home for 40,000 people, will be a self-contained urban community, with business and administrative offices, schools and clinics, supported by luxury apartments, shops, galleries, restaurants and attractions.

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READERS' COMMENTS

delay in handover
Posted by PM, dubai, uae on Tuesday 11 August 2009 at 13:08 UAE time


I have also invested in Wadi Tower and suffering a huge loss b'cos of the indefinite delays please anybody has invested in same project please contact me.

what about investors
Posted by Deep on Friday 1 May 2009 at 12:42 UAE time


I am one of the investors in the project, having booked a 1 bedroom apartment way back in 2005 at prelaunch stage, sorry to say that the handover date has been pushed back from Dec 2008, to Dec 2009 and now Dec 2010 ( which i am sure will not be happening too). Its a pity to see such a big group defaulting on its commitment. I have been servicing interest charges on my mortgage for this mirage ( yes thats what it seems now). for last 2 years... and paying for delays/mistakes of someone else.
Interestingly this article has no mentioned of Wadi tower residential apartment building, which was first of the properties to go on sale from this project.. its all eye wash looks like. God save investors like me.

Be Reasonable
Posted by MEZ, Doha, Qatar on Tuesday 7 April 2009 at 15:32 UAE time


How comes if they are still casting pile caps and mall can be opened end of next year?
To complete construction and finishes of 10 (not 20) million sq ft will take at between 2-3 years let alone the fit out of 700 (not 1400) shops!!!!

Be reasonable!

Thank you MM
Posted by omar, dubai on Tuesday 7 April 2009 at 12:36 UAE time


Dubai MUST benchmark its prices with new great global cities like KL, Singapore and NOT London like it used to do. London is a city of 15 Million people and 1000 years of history and it's the hub of the world's language English unlike Dubai the city of 1 million people! When Dubai starts this exercise, Dubai will be more stable eso. for the real estate and hospitality sector.

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