Nakheel illustrated the Dubai dream



Nakheel once described itself as the place "Where the Vision of Dubai Gets Built", though the slogan is not easily found on its website these days. For a few years, that certainly proved to be true. Its US$12 billion (Dh44.07bn) Palm Jumeirah development transformed the name of a plant that was the source of food and shelter for the Bedouin into the emirate's premier marketing icon, one visible from outer space.

The project, launched off the Dubai coast in 2001, was attractive enough to convince personalities including the property developer Donald Trump and the football star David Beckham into buying in. An aerial view of the island, which now includes lavish hotels, waterfront villas and a monorail, is often featured on international television and in newspapers as an illustration of not just how far engineering can go, but how large were the dreams and ambitions of Dubai.

That same image is now being used to tell a vastly different story. While Nakheel, which means "the palms", may only be part of the Dubai World conglomerate, it remains the best illustration of the Dubai dream. Nakheel and Limitless, another property subsidiary of Dubai World, are top priorities as the conglomerate seeks to restructure. The total value of debt carried by the subsidiaries subject to the restructuring process amounts to about $26bn, of which about $6bn relates to a Nakheel sukuk, Dubai World said yesterday.

When Dubai first set its sights on becoming a globally known financial, trade and tourism centre earlier this decade, a company called Dubai Palm Developers, later Nakheel, came up with the idea to use sand dredged from the expansion of Dubai's ports to create island centres. Such was the demand for the "waterfront lifestyle" in the year-round sunshine of the Gulf that Nakheel's strategy focused on creating more and more shoreline.

Saeed Ahmed Saeed was the company's managing director at the time. He joined Limitless as chief executive in 2005, moving the man-made theme inland with plans for the Arabian Canal, a proposed 75km waterway and a 14,000 hectare city valued at $11bn and $50bn respectively. Construction on the canal began late last year but has since stalled. Mr Saeed, who went on to form Limitless in 2005 and is its current chief executive, expanded the company's portfolio and a string of announcements of projects in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India and Vietnam followed.

Meanwhile, James Wilson, a South African who had a good track record of developing holiday resorts, took the helm of Nakheel in early 2005. Its Ibn Battuta Mall had just opened and plans were being made for the company's biggest project ever: Dubai Waterfront, a residential and office community which would cover what it claimed would be "an area twice the size of Hong Kong". Meanwhile, International City, a huge residential development close to Dubai International Airport, was under construction.

The shuffle in the corporate suite continued. Mr Wilson left the company in 2006 and Nakheel was taken over by Chris O'Donnell, an Australian property developer. Even with all the inland activity creating new neighbourhoods out of desert, it was the man-made islands that continued to capture the world's attention. Nakheel's appetite for reclaimed land was whetted with the success of the first of the Palm island trilogy, Palm Jumeirah. The developer went out of its way to keep the island in the spotlight.

The publicity that surrounded Beckham's purchase of an off-plan villa on Palm Jumeirah when he passed through Dubai en route to Japan for the 2002 World Cup finals did wonders for sales on the development, where the first homeowners starting occupancy in late 2007. The hype also boosted property prices, with some homeowners reporting they had doubled their investments in just a few years. Atlantis The Palm, a 50 per cent joint venture between Nakheel and the South African business tycoon Sol Kerzner, also brought attention to the Palm. A fireworks display to mark the opening of the hotel, where guests included the entertainer Kylie Minogue and the actor Robert De Niro, was reported to have cost $20 million.

Nakheel also struck a deal with Mr Trump for a $789m Trump International Tower and Hotel at Palm Jumeirah. With Palm Jumeirah barely finished, Nakheel hatched plans for two more islands, Palm Deira and Palm Jebel Ali. It didn't stop there. Nakheel launched the $14bn The World project, a collection of artificial islands in the shape of a world map off the Dubai coast. Once billed as "the Maldives of the Middle East", construction is yet to begin on the islands, which were fully reclaimed early last year. Both palm projects are now delayed.

Nakheel also tried to outdo its rival, Emaar Properties, with plans to build a tower taller than the Burj Dubai. The structure, which was set to be more than 1km high, was initially to be built at Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront project. After a series of design changes and early consultation costs, thought to have been more than $20m, the location of the tower was planned at a site close to Ibn Battuta Mall.

Set to be the centrepiece of the Nakheel Harbour and Tower development, the tower is yet to make it off the drawing board. The global economic crisis then began to affect the UAE. The Trump project, launched with such fanfare at an extravagant New York press conference a few months before, was put on hold. After being launched on the eve of Cityscape Dubai in October last year, work was suspended on the Waterfront project by the end of the year.

Within the space of a few months, Dubai property prices fell as much as 50 per cent, the off-plan market evaporated and property companies were faced with many buyers who struggled to meet their instalments. Nakheel today struggles with a huge debt and hundreds of people have invested in homes that may never be built. Overzealous expansion plans have also left a significant number of suppliers short of cash and hundreds of people have lost jobs.

How Dubai World will restructure Nakheel and Limitless will now be closely watched, not just locally, but by the world. The success of that process will likely dictate how quickly confidence in Dubai's property market will recover. @Email:agiuffrida@thenational.ae

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

The%20Roundup%20%3A%20No%20Way%20Out
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Don%20Lee%2C%20Lee%20Jun-hyuk%2C%20Munetaka%20Aoki%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Sour%20Grapes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EZakaria%20Tamer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESyracuse%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E176%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdinburgh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%204%20%3Cem%3E(unchanged)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBahrain%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2015)%3C%2Fem%3E%3B%20second%20daily%20service%20from%20January%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKuwait%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2016)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMumbai%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAhmedabad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColombo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202%20%3Cem%3E(from%20January%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMuscat%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cem%3E%20%3C%2Fem%3EMarch%201%3Cem%3E%20(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELyon%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBologna%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Emirates%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5