Palm of your hand
Palm developer Nakheel is putting some of its flagship projects on hold and considering plans for an initial public offering to raise up to £7 billion as it faces massive cash flow problems...
It is the second shock within 24 hours for the Dubai property sector after the United Arab Emirate's largest developer announced it had made 500 staff redundant.
It refused to give any details of the move except to confirm that it is exploring a number of capital raising projects.
But it confirmed that some of its £40 billion worth of schemes including the flagship Trump International Hotel and Tower will be delayed. Others facing delays include Gateway Towers and the Waterfront, a series of manmade islands set to be twice the size of Hong Kong.
Nakheel said work would continue on Madinat Al Arab, Venetto, Badra and the Canal District, but areas of the project, including construction of six man-made islands, would be put on hold.
The Universe, a series of man-made islands in the shape of the sun, the moon and the planets that wraps around Nakheel's The World project, has been delayed with work restricted to preliminary engineering studies.
On the Palm Jebel Ali, the second largest of the three Palm islands, Nakheel said work on the fond villas and infrastructure for the crescent would continue, while other phases would be delayed.
'Nakheel is delaying long-dated infrastructure work on some of our projects in order to ensure that our business model is aligned to meet market demand,' the company said in a statement.
'We have the responsibility to adjust our short term business plans to accommodate the current global environment,' the statement continued.
Nakheel said work on all other projects, which include The World man-made archipelago and Palm Deira, the largest of the Palm islands, would continue as planned.
Nakheel is the latest in a long line of Dubai-based real estate developers to announce layoffs, which includes Damac Holding, Omniyat and Tameer Holding Investment.
Source: www.propertywire.com