Dubai World Central will be home to one million people, says Khalid Bin Harib, DWC’s Real Estate CEO
When it’s eventually completed, Dubai World Central, currently described as a “city within a city,” will accommodate a staggering one million people. Khalid bin Harib, CEO Real Estate within DWC, the man responsible for the gigantic housing project, tells us how it will be done.
Q: Tell us about the real estate plans for DWC?
A: The real estate project is the biggest lot in the City. As a department, we are responsible for developing three components within DWC – namely, the DWC Residential City, DWC Commercial City and DWC Golf City.
We’ve already started the first phase, which is called the DWC Residential City. Within this city will be the Labor Village that will accommodate mainly staff and the laborers. The total population of the Residential City will be 250,000. At least 60,000 of that population will be laborers and staff accommodated by DWC whose properties will be leasehold. The rest of the Residential City will be freehold.
We decided to develop this phase first because the priority must be for those laborers and staff who are going to be working at DWC throughout the construction period. The whole area of phase one was sold out last month for U.S. $2.3 billion and caters for 35,000 people. We have five phases for this project alone.
We’re confident that the Residential City will be a huge success in terms of mid-income housing. We have initiated plans for DWC’s own metro and road transport system, so the infrastructure will be enviable.
Q: What are you doing to sell this project to the American market?
A: In terms of Residential City, we’re not focusing on any expatriate markets. The majority of the staff and laborers are already in the United Arab Emirates. When we launch DWC Commercial City and DWC Golf City, that’s when we’ll begin targeting the European, American and Asian markets.
Q: DWC Golf City is the high-end luxury residential area of DWC. Could you tell us more about that?
A: The Golf City is an entirely freehold project that will be built in two phases. In total, we’re going to have 5,000 villas and 16,000 units as high-end apartments. That of course, includes the entertainment infrastructure, within which there will be two full-size golf courses – each with 18 holes. All the villas will be built around the golf courses.
Q: When do you think DWC Golf City will be completed and ready to go on the market?
A: We’re going to launch phase one of DWC Golf City in October during the Cityscape 2007 exhibition that includes the first golf course, 2,500 villas and 9,000 apartments. The plots are freehold and investors will buy the plots and develop their own properties. These will have to adhere to our rules and regulations. There are six standard villa models and any investor can invest in one of these villa types.
Q: In terms of the region’s political climate, how are you going to attract the American buyer to these residential projects?
A: I believe Brand Dubai has gained recognition all around the world. And I believe many people have learned that we are a long way away from the political issues that are taking place in the region. People trust the economic situation in the region – the stability of the security and the investment opportunities. I think these three elements would be enough to encourage any investor from around the world to come over and develop their own properties within Dubai World Central.
Q: There are an enormous number of developments going on in Dubai and there is a lot of doom and gloom forecasters who are saying the market is going to crash. How do you respond to that?
A: The general business environment in Dubai allows us to grow, and we are very optimistic about the future. I think the support we receive from the government is essential because it provides freedom for developers and investors to come over and invest in this go-ahead emirate.
Also, practically speaking, the demand for land is very high. For example, part of DWC Commercial City will be launched this year. We were supposed to launch it in 2008, but the high market demand has caused us to speed up our plans and introduce the first phase by the end of this year.
Q: Forecasts suggest that over the next two decades, Dubai’s population will increase tenfold, to 11 million people. Where does DWC enter that equation?
A: We are part of that 11million. In our city - DWC, the population is going to be one million. So if we keep expanding at the current rate, providing a good atmosphere for investors, the number of people will definitely increase.
Q: With the population increase will come the impact on the eco system – one million people make an awful lot of waste. What are DWC’s plans for green architecture?
A: When we created the master plans, we brought in the consultants and the urban designers to consider all these issues. To avoid any trouble in future, we keep reviewing the master plan every two months because we want to avoid all these obstacles that might affect our project in the future.
Q: So there will be recycling facilities or use of solar energy?
A: We consider ourselves, as a city within a city, so everything a modern city requires, will be taken into account. Dubai’s Government will provide all these facilities as and when we need them. Also, you must remember that the development of our city might be going on for another 25 years – it’s an ongoing process we intend to review and improve on as the city unfolds. We’re not talking about the whole project being ready by next year.
Our Facilities Management Department is looking into any solution that will make us independent. Solar energy is a possibility we’re exploring.
Q: When will you begin promoting DWC in the American market and which target markets will you approach?
A: We’ll begin our U.S. campaign by mid October 2008. We’ll have a road show that will travel to every major city in the United States. And we’ll be including South America in that agenda too as there are a lot of investors interested in Dubai. It’s a big untapped market for us.
