Meydan launches another Nad al-Sheba project

04 August 2015

New development includes tall tower, shopping mall and world’s longest indoor ski slope

  • Dubai ruler approves Meydan One development
  • Scheme includes 711-metre-tall tower, shopping mall and the world’s longest indoor ski slope
  • Meydan has announced ambitious plans for the Nad al-Sheba area before

Dubai has released details of its Meydan One project that will include a 711-metre-tall tower, a marina and a shopping mall, and the world’s longest indoor ski slope.

The local Meydan City Corporation announced the 3.7 square kilometre project after it was officially approved by UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum on 3 August.

The development will be home to more than 78,300 residents and feature the 711m-tall Dubai One tower, the Meydan One Mall, a 1.2-kilometre ski slope, a 25,000-square-metre indoor sports arena, a civic plaza large enough to host 60,000 people, a 4km canal and a 100-berth marina.

There will also be a 300m long beach. In October 2013, Crystal Lagoons has signed a deal to construct the world’s largest manmade lagoon at the development. The 40-hectare lagoon is so large it will have its own beaches.

The first phase of the development, located between Meydan and Al-Khail Road, is scheduled for completion before 2020.

Meydan has announced ambitious plans for its land in the Nad al-Sheba area before. In 2007 it launched the Meydan City development, which it said would cover 7.5-million sq m and include a 4km-long canal that will run from Dubai Creek to the Meydan racecourse.

The facilities announced then included a marina, a shopping mall, museum and golf course. The shopping mall, museum and golf course have not been completed.

The race course opened in 2010 and has been the source of controversy within Dubai’s construction community after Meydan chose to pull the performance bonds of contractors working on the project.

The long-running dispute was finally resolved in July this year when Malaysia’s WCT said it had been awarded a final settlement in the case worth AED1.1bn ($300m), as well as arbitration and legal costs by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (Diac). WCT was working on the project as part of a joint venture with the local ArabtecConstruction.

Meydan is also building villas in the Nad al-Sheba area. In late 2014, Saudi Arabia’s El-Seif Engineering Contracting was awarded an estimated AED2.2bn contract by Meydan for the construction of 2,200 villas at the Meydan Heights Residential Development.

Meydan Group is also developing Mohammed bin Rashid City – District One in the Nad al-Sheba area with its joint venture partner, India’s Sobha Group. The project includes 1,500 villas.

Meydan is developing other projects in Dubai. In late 2013, the emirate’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) signed an agreement with Meydan and Meraas Holding for the two local developers to build real estate projects on either side of the Dubai Water Canal project.

One of the schemes is the Canal Gate Tower, which will be built on the banks of the canal on Sheikh Zayed Road. The tower is a mixed-use development that comprises more than 3.5 million sq ft. It will consist of 468 apartments, 470 serviced apartments and 617 hotel rooms, as well as more than 400,000 sq ft of retail space and 735,000 sq ft of commercial office space.

Another planned scheme is a shopping mall that will straddle the canal with an enclosed multi-level retail bridge containing shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Meydan is also developing the 100-plus-storey Entisar tower on Sheikh Zayed Road. In late 2014, El-Seif Engineering Contracting was selected for the contract to build it.

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