Meydan Group has today announced the formation of a joint venture contractor with Sobha Group to develop a 400-ha residential development within Mohammed Bin Rashid City.
The 1,400-villa Mohammed Bin Rashid City District One will be built in four overlapping three-year phases over the course of seven years.
It will include seven kilometers of waterways, the world’s largest crystal lagoon body of freshwater at 350,000m2 and 60% green space.
HE Saeed Humaid Al Tayer, chairman and CEO of Meydan Group, announced: “We consider this to be the most important launch announcement since the creation of Meydan back in 2007.”
“It will be the closest residential villas and theme park space development to Burj Khalifa, located just 3km away. The market value upon completion will be approximately $5.72 billion.”
PNC Menon, founder and chairman of Sobha Group, noted that each of the four phases would deliver 375 villas – 25% of the units. He added: “We have already started at the site for the show village.”
UAE-based Sobha Developers originally acquired the first 75-hectares of what would soon be announced as MBR City in February 2012 for an undisclosed sum. At the time the exact details of the project were unknown.
Mohammed Bin Rashid City was announced in November by eponymous Dubai ruler HH Sheikh Al Maktoum. It will include the world’s largest mall, more than 100 hotels, and a public park larger than Hyde Park, London.
Haydar Hassan, CEO of District One consultant AE7, explained: “Meydan brought us on board based on our project reputation in the UAE and abroad. Our vision was then showcased at Cityscape and approved by his highness.”
Questioned on the sources of funding for the project Al Tayer added: “We try to self-fund as much as possible, but we are happy to have a dialogue with loyal financial institutions that want to get involved down the road.”