Real Estate

Meraas appoints main contractor for Jumeirah project

August 25, 2023, 6:54 AM

La Mer beach in Dubai. Developer Meraas Holding is building 178 properties in Port De La Mer

China Railway 18th Bureau has been appointed main contractor for the latest residential project to be built in Dubai’s Port De La Mer.

Developer Meraas Holding appointed the company for its Le Ciel project, in which three residential buildings will be built, consisting of eight floors with 178 properties, ranging from one to four bedrooms.

Dubai’s Dewan Architects & Engineers is the project consultant, according to a report by MEED.

The first freehold master community – where non-GCC nationals can buy a property – in the emirate’s Jumeirah district, Port De La Mer is made up of six plots: La Cote, La Rive, Le Pont, La Voile, La Sirene and Le Ciel.

Launched in 2018, the development will include swimming pools, a gym beach and a 192-berth marina, as well as hotels, retail outlets and restaurants.

Asset management firm Merex Investment, formed in 2020 with Dubai Holding and Brookfield as its two major shareholders, is currently redeveloping La Mer South, which originally opened in 2018, as an upscale beach resort destination.

J1 Beach, La Mer South’s new name, is scheduled to open at the end of this year and will offer three new beachfront experiences – Gigi Rigolatto, Bâoli and Sirene Beach by Gaia – along with 10 other upscale restaurants.

Earlier this year China Railway 18th Bureau was named main contractor for the AED3.7 billion ($1 billion) Habtoor Tower development, based by the Dubai Canal in Al Habtoor City.

Billed at its launch in May as one of the biggest residential towers in the world, the project includes three basements for parking and 81 floors.

Real estate experts told AGBI last year that Dubai’s dwindling number of prime development sites is keeping prices high and waterside plots connected to existing infrastructure are in especially short supply.

Ali Hussein Sajwani, managing director of operations and technology at Damac Properties, one of Dubai’s largest residential developers, said: “When it comes to beachfront land, it is scarce – that’s where there is potential for the land to actually run out, because the beachfront is quite limited.

“And with property, it’s all about location, location, location. So, if you focus on prime real estate, it will, of course, hold its value because the land is so scarce.”