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Discuss this article (12 Comments)Nakheel hits back at ACI Waterfront claims
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Monday, 13 July 2009
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Master developer Nakheel on Monday hit back at claims made by Dubai property group ACI Real Estate - and insisted its Waterfront mega-project was going ahead.
Robin Lohmann, managing director of ACI Real Estate, in an interview with Arabian Business this week, blamed the state-owned developer for a lack of progress on his flagship Ferretti Luxury Beach Residence and Pershing Luxury Beach Residence projects, located in the Madinat Al Arab area of the Nakheel’s Waterfront development in Jebel Ali.
“We have invested in several plots in Dubai Waterfront. We need to know from the master developer of Waterfront, which is Nakheel, if they plan to go ahead with the project now or not. Once we have these answers we can give to answers our purchasers,” Lohmann said.
But in an emailed statement to Arabian Business Nakheel said it had handed over ACI’s two plots and the company was free to start construction.
“The two plots which ACI own at Madinat Al Arab have already been handed over,” a spokesman for Nakheel said.
"Waterfront has not been cancelled. Our current focus at Waterfront is on Badrah, Veneto, and Madinat Al Arab. Work continues to make good progress at these sites,” the spokesman added.
The Madinat Al Arab phase of the Waterfront is due for completion in 2015. Other sub-developers such as Plus Properties have started construction at Madinat on its Pixel Tower and Wave Residence projects.
“At Madinat Al Arab, we remain committed to providing infrastructure to third party developers as per their Sales and Purchase Agreements. The majority of plots in this phase have been handed over with some third party developers already mobilised on-site,” the Nakheel spokesman added.
Dubai-based property developer and investment company ACI Real Estate, is a division ACI (Alternative Capital Invest) Group, a German firm with interests in asset management and real estate.
The Waterfront is a planned seaside mega project, twice the size of Hong Kong. It is being built over six phases and completion dates range from 2010 to 2018.
Nakheel said in December the Madinat Al Arab, Veneto, Badra and Canal District phases of the Waterfront were pressing ahead, while other sections would be delayed in the wake of the global crisis.
READERS' COMMENTS
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get it right
Posted by Paolo L., Verona, Italy on Saturday 22 August 2009 at 23:12 UAE time
The situation is for me very clear. There isn't enough money out there for Nakheel and others to move forward. Without infrastructure developers see no need to proceed. At the same time master developer and developer are blaming one another to gain time and to move the attention elsewhere. They will not announce cancellations because they are unable to pay. So we are all hanging in a limbo. In the best scenario most of you will get out of it in 3-4 years.
Posted by Paolo L., Verona, Italy on Saturday 22 August 2009 at 23:12 UAE time
The situation is for me very clear. There isn't enough money out there for Nakheel and others to move forward. Without infrastructure developers see no need to proceed. At the same time master developer and developer are blaming one another to gain time and to move the attention elsewhere. They will not announce cancellations because they are unable to pay. So we are all hanging in a limbo. In the best scenario most of you will get out of it in 3-4 years.
Nakheel Should Come clean about Badrah II
Posted by Rammy, Dubai, UAE on Friday 21 August 2009 at 22:37 UAE time
Nakheel Should come clean with the hard working investors who made it what it currently is.
They should announce and without delay the Indeed they have canceled the Badrah II project, cause no way they will complete it in by end of 2011 and they can not extend the delivery any further.
So all they are doing is frustrating the investors and trying to push them to so called consolidation. This is just not acceptable behaviour from someone like Nakheel. They will lose so much turst than what they already have lost with the investors, it will simply stupid for Nakheel to continue with Badrah II and other off plans projects , no investor will be crazy enough to continue paying them any further instalments, why would they, when they can get for the same price a finished, larger property in place like JBR or Dubai Marina.??
Posted by Rammy, Dubai, UAE on Friday 21 August 2009 at 22:37 UAE time
Nakheel Should come clean with the hard working investors who made it what it currently is.
They should announce and without delay the Indeed they have canceled the Badrah II project, cause no way they will complete it in by end of 2011 and they can not extend the delivery any further.
So all they are doing is frustrating the investors and trying to push them to so called consolidation. This is just not acceptable behaviour from someone like Nakheel. They will lose so much turst than what they already have lost with the investors, it will simply stupid for Nakheel to continue with Badrah II and other off plans projects , no investor will be crazy enough to continue paying them any further instalments, why would they, when they can get for the same price a finished, larger property in place like JBR or Dubai Marina.??
Nakheel's Waterfront Projects
Posted by Amir, Dubai, UAE on Monday 20 July 2009 at 11:18 UAE time
Exactly. I am aware that at one stage Nakheel decided to keep a rather manageable portion of Waterfront Project (where they can afford to start working on the infrastructure and developers are willing to start construction) and reassign lands in other parts of Dubai to other developers should they wish to honor their commitments to their investors. But it seems with the current economic climate, Nakheel missed that chance and now the best thing to do - for everyone - is to cancel this huge and costly project and let investors get their money back. They should know that investors are no longer interested in these projects. Time has changed and the players should also accept the new realities. Nakheel is losing a lot money ever day by the indecision regarding these projects, including big buck projects such as The World where they invested billions of Dollars on infrastructure and the islands are yet to be built. I think this is the time for making intelligent decisions, and fast.
Posted by Amir, Dubai, UAE on Monday 20 July 2009 at 11:18 UAE time
Exactly. I am aware that at one stage Nakheel decided to keep a rather manageable portion of Waterfront Project (where they can afford to start working on the infrastructure and developers are willing to start construction) and reassign lands in other parts of Dubai to other developers should they wish to honor their commitments to their investors. But it seems with the current economic climate, Nakheel missed that chance and now the best thing to do - for everyone - is to cancel this huge and costly project and let investors get their money back. They should know that investors are no longer interested in these projects. Time has changed and the players should also accept the new realities. Nakheel is losing a lot money ever day by the indecision regarding these projects, including big buck projects such as The World where they invested billions of Dollars on infrastructure and the islands are yet to be built. I think this is the time for making intelligent decisions, and fast.
Nakheel Projects
Posted by The Don, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 19 July 2009 at 22:34 UAE time
I do strongly believe that Government of Dubai should go ahead and cancel all Nakheel water front projects because under current circumstances insisting on these projects will create a big hole in Dubai government finances. Better to bit the difficult decision today, preserve the land for future generations than feeling sorry for something will require significant financial investment and comes at a very dear price paid from Dubai reputation.
Posted by The Don, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 19 July 2009 at 22:34 UAE time
I do strongly believe that Government of Dubai should go ahead and cancel all Nakheel water front projects because under current circumstances insisting on these projects will create a big hole in Dubai government finances. Better to bit the difficult decision today, preserve the land for future generations than feeling sorry for something will require significant financial investment and comes at a very dear price paid from Dubai reputation.
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