Residents of Jebel Ali Village, one of Dubai’s oldest residential communities, have been told they have 12 months to vacate their homes ahead of a planned redevelopment.
Property developer Nakheel, the owner of the village and all of the villas in it, said it will redevelop the community to “preserve and enhance its longevity for many more generations to come”.
Nakheel said it will share its plans for the village in “due course”.
Long-term residents have said they are sad at being told to leave the area they call home.
We recognise Jebel Ali Village’s importance to Dubai’s history and its residents and, for this reason, have taken the decision to redevelop the community to preserve and enhance its longevity
Nakheel Properties
“I am devastated,” said Amanda James, who has lived in the development on and off since the 1980s when her family moved from Saudi Arabia to the UAE when she was a child.
She has lived elsewhere in Dubai and even bought in The Meadows, an Emaar community nearby, at one point. But she has always returned to the village.
“I think when you have been here a long time you are still looking for a little glimpse of when you arrived in Dubai,” said the 53-year-old Briton.
“I also have a beautiful view of the Marina. I actually have a little frame on my front wall. I have the Jebel Ali frame.
“It’s quiet, it’s always had a good community feel. It’s a little bit out of town so it’s not busy. It’s peaceful. And you can walk your dogs, your children are safe to wander around.”
The village, which has about 290 homes, was built in the 1970s in a patch of desert, 30km away from the nearest developed area.
Originally for the British and Dutch staff at the nearby Jebel Ali Port, over the years it became hugely popular with people from other nationalities, too.
When it opened, six years after the founding of the UAE, the old Abu Dhabi road was a two-lane road used by taxis, lorries and cars. Camels walked around the village freely.
It was closed for five years for refurbishment, reopening in 2013, when Ms James returned.
The village's much-loved Jebel Ali Club, one of Dubai’s oldest and most treasured venues, was revamped and opened to the public in 2017.
But some of the houses have fallen into disrepair again, just as they had before the development was refurbished in 2008.
Ms James said her own home is in good shape, aside from being in need of "a lick of paint". She and her husband have invested their own money in it, with the aim to stay long-term, even installing a new kitchen.
“We did that because the kitchen was awful and I didn’t want to live with a semi-functional kitchen, which is basically what it was when they repurposed it last time,” she said.
Resident Monique Buitendag and her husband, Harold, who received their notice to vacate by October 2022 on Thursday, have also carried out extensive renovations to their rented home.
She said the family, from South Africa, moved in May and spent Dh150,000 on the property after being assured the villas would not be demolished any time soon.
"We re-tiled everything. We re-did the kitchen. We painted the entire house. We put down grass, added trees, installed a water tank and so on," she said.
"The reason we moved here in the first place is because of the family community. We have a little daughter. My nanny is friends with about 20 other nannies. They have playgroups. It's a family community."
Both Ms Buitendag and Ms James understand they should by law be allowed to complete their existing contracts before the 12-month notice period to vacate applies.
“That’s my understanding of [my rights] and I was a legal secretary for years. I am more than prepared to go down the legal route," said Ms James.
“I know quite a few on the Facebook group are looking at getting legal advice,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Nakheel said the developer is complying with all legal requirements.
“We recognise Jebel Ali Village’s importance to Dubai’s history and its residents and, for this reason, have taken the decision to redevelop the community to preserve and enhance its longevity for many more generations to come,” she said.
“We have informed all tenants of this decision and are complying with all legal requirements. We are keen to help our tenants as best we can during the transition and have put in place a number of support services to make their relocation as smooth as possible.
“We will share details of our plans for Jebel Ali Village in due course.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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