Developer moves ahead with The World project

The World islands. (MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

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Potential buyers on ‘The World’ will be able to visit an onsite showhouse within fourteen months, a major developer, who is planning to start construction on the islands this year, has said.

“To attract buyers nowadays you need to have some relatively good progress onsite,” Rahail Aslan, CEO of Select Group, the developers behind the France and Spain islands, said in an interview.

“Within I’d say twelve to fourteen months from now we will have a showhome and apartment ready onsite,” he added.

Aslan confirmed that he is currently talking to four major contractors about the project.

“We are aiming to award the main contractor mid this year… and then in Q3 they will mobilise and we will start,” he said.

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FEATURED COMMENT Between all Dubai Projects; this one could be the craziest. I was wondering who came up with this idea of World Islands!   2 Comments Read more comments »

While the company is not actively chasing sales at the moment, Aslan said they are starting construction in order to take advantage of the steep drop in construction costs.

“We are not trying to make any sales at the minute. I think the market and environment is not the right time, there is no confidence really there. Therefore we are not even attempting to make any sales. However, construction costs are very attractive at the moment and we will be taking full advantage of that and hence talking to all the contractors this early on.”

He estimates that construction costs in Dubai have fallen by as much as 50% in the last year.

France and Spain, which are collectively known as Aquitainia, are part of The World, a manmade archipelago of 300 islands located 4km off the coast of Dubai.

Aquitania was a AED5.5bn ($1.49bn) development consisting of 816 residential properties and a 75-room boutique hotel when it was launched in 2008, however Aslan told Arabian Business last week that the company was amending the design and that the number of residential units is likely to be reduced by around 40%.

“We have reduced the density and made it more attractive. It previously had quite a number of units on the project but we have probably reduced it by I would say 40%, which means there is much more landscaped area, the buildings are not as dense, apartments are getting better views and it has even made it easier on the utilities,” he said.

Construction of Aquitainia is likely to take three and half years, Aslan estimated.