Nakheel has completed AED1.5bn ($408m) of retail projects with 1.5 million square feet of retail space in 2016 as the company drives forward with strategy of growing recurring revenues from its leasable assets.

Over the past two years the Dubai-based developer has been building assets that will give it steady long-term revenue streams and those projects are adding to revenues. “We expect our recurring income this year to cross AED2bn,” said Ali Rashid Lootah, chairman, Nakheel on 18 December.

The company has previously said that it aims to have recurring incomes of AED7bn by 2020. Nakheel said in 2014 that its recurring revenues that year totalled AED1.2bn.

Retail is a key component of Nakheel’s plans to boost its recurring revenues and the developer has more than 5.6 million square feet of retail space under construction.

Lootah said that Nakheel’s retail portfolio is performing well despite concerns of a market slowdown. “It is a classical answer. It is location, location, location. And it depends what are you catering for? What segment of society?” says Lootah. “You have to target a segment and have a location. People talk that there is a drop, but it depends on what you are selling, what you are offering, what prices, people are still spending money.”

The latest mall to open is the AED110m Al-Furjan Pavilion, which opened on 18 December. It is the fifth Nakheel Malls project to open this year, and is the first of two pavilions to be built at Al-Furjan.

“Here [Al-Furjan] we leased 80 per cent already, our advantage is we have developed communities and good locations. That is what makes a difference,” says Lootah.

The centre has 24 shops, restaurants and services covering an area of 87,000 square feet of leasable space, with a car park for more than 300 vehicles.

Located at the southern end of Al-Furjan, the complex also features a sports and recreation hub with a restaurant, swimming pool, sports court and gym, scheduled to open by the end of first quarter of 2017. A mosque will also be built at the Pavilion next year.

A second Nakheel Pavilion at Al-Furjan, including a mosque for 500 people, is also under construction, with anticipated completion in the first quarter of 2017. Located on the western side of the community, it will contain around 35 shops, restaurants and cafes, plus a gym and nursery.

Al-Furjan is already home to more than 5,000 people, with a projected population of over 65,000 when complete.

Other retail projects opened by Nakheel 2016 are Dragon Mart 2, Ibn Battuta phase one extension and Metro link, Club Vista Mare on Palm Jumeirah and International City Pavilion.