Palm Deira is the largest of the three artificial palm-shaped developments in Dubai and will provide housing for up to 1.3 million people when completed.

The first project involves the construction of six buildings on an island facing the mainland.

Three of the buildings will be 17-floor residential blocks, two will be 20-floor office structures, and the sixth will be a 24-floor office tower. It also involves the construction of a restaurant on a small offshore island.

The total built-up area is 202,320 square metres, with 620 residential units, more than 90,000 sq m of office space and 12,000 sq m of retail space.

The project will be constructed on an island close to the existing corniche. Palm Deira consists of a series of islands connected by bridges. When completed, it will have 75 kilometres of beachfront, 91km of waterfront and 43 marinas with more than 8,000 berths. Commercial land will account for 28 per cent of the island, and residential land 55 per cent. The rest will be mixed-use.

Nakheel released details of the redesigned island in May last year. The new design of the project is understood to have dramatically reduced the cost of building the palm, in part due to a shortening of its length from more than 14km to 12.5km.

The islands will be linked to the mainland by a series of road bridges, as well as a metro rail link.