When Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum appointed Abdulla al-Habbai to replace Mohammed Abdullah al-Gergawi as chairman of Dubai Holding in March there was an expectation that one of Dubai’s most active developers would be quick to push ahead with new projects.

The UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai has been driving Dubai’s economy hard with a constant flow of new projects as the rest of the region struggles with low oil prices, and Al-Habbai, who is also the chairman of Meraas, has played a leading role in delivery with projects such as City Walk and Bluewaters.

With Al-Habbai at the helm, Dubai Holding has moved quickly to announce ambitious new projects just as Meraas has been doing over the past five years.

On 14 May it announced Marsa al-Arab. It will be developed on two new artificial islands on either side of the Burj al-Arab hotel. It will cover an area of about 370,000 square metres and will add 2.2 kilometres of beach. The concept is not entirely new, before the real estate crash Dubai Holding was planning an offshore island next to the Burj al-Arab known as Falcon island.

One island will be dedicated to entertainment and family tourism, while the other will be a resort. There will also be 300 sea-front residential apartments in the heart of the development, and a 20,000 square metre retail centre that will be built where the Wild Wadi Water Park is currently located. It will also include a private yacht marina and a yacht club, as well as other recreational attractions.

With its first project launched under Al-Habbai’s leadership, the question will inevitably turn to what’s next. Staff at Dubai Holding’s development companies have been preparing new schemes for some time, and with a broad portfolio there is scope to launch a wide range of new projects catering to a variety of market segments.

The challenge for Dubai Holding and other developers in Dubai will be project overload and not allowing these new schemes to detract from the challenge of delivering what has already been launched.