Dubai developer pays off debt early as the world reawakens

Nakheel, the company behind such audacious projects as the Palm Islands, has been a key player in the emirate's construction boom. With outlandish ambition, Dubai's property market was defined by such grand concepts as man-made islands, which culminated in The World, an artificial archipelago off the Coast of the UAE.

Designed to look like a world map, the project was soon suspended when Dubai's economy collapsed - taking down Nakheel with it. Indeed, its work was tied up with credit as well as creative thinking, requiring a loan from the government to get back on its feet.

Now, though, Dubai's market has rebounded strongly from the recession, with demand and prices both soaring - and Nakheel is riding the wave. The company's AED7.9 billion debt, which was due to be paid off completely in 2018 has now been met several years early.

"Nakheel also thanked its lenders, investors, business partners and regulatory authorities for their support throughout its financial restructuring exercise and since the implementation of its post-restructuring business plan began in August 2011," the company said in a statement.

The news arrives as the owners of 50 of The World islands are looking to build once more. Kleindeinst Group has announced its plans to make a permanent resort across six of the 300 islands, saying that owners were becoming interested once more, despite the loss of momentum.

“There are approximately 50 islands [where] if they could find the right joint venture partner they would go ahead [with construction] now," he told Arabian Business in an exclusive interview.

"We are in discussion with most of the island owners and we understand their position: most of them if they’re in the real estate business then they are quite busy with projects in Dubai, which means that The World, which has another level of complication if you want to develop out there, is not their focus."

Indeed, Buroj has announced plans this month to build 10 new serviced apartment blocks across the mainland in the next 12 months.

"It’s the same [for] Nakheel; it’s quite busy with a lot of other master developments, so the focus is not there yet."