Dh1bn mixed-use project planned

Classical Victorian architecture will be the theme of a Dh1 billion mixed-use development planned near Abu Dhabi International Airport by Mubarak and Brothers Investment (MBI).

The company, which is owned by Abu Dhabi's prominent Al Fahim family, said Deerfields Town Square will be developed on 3.2 million square feet of land and will be completed by the end of 2010.

The land is located in Al Bahia along Al Raha Beach Development on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway. Deerfields Town Square will feature retail and entertainment facilities across 2.2 million square feet, and the rest of the nearly 950,000 square feet that make up the new development will be reserved for residential, commercial and hospitality units.

"The entire project will be completed by the end of 2010 with the first phase already under way. All the feasibility studies, evaluations and architectural designing of the project have already been done. We will begin with the construction of a shopping mall and retail facilities, followed by the construction of other components of the development," Mohammed Al Haj, MBI CEO, said after unveiling the scheme. Project plans reveal commercial blocks, a shopping mall, retail chains, a hotel, a building for serviced apartments, residential apartment buildings, sports facilities, food outlets and private serviced and non-serviced villas.

Banu Tas, general manager of Deerfields Town Square, said the company has already raised Dh450 million to begin the work on the first phase. "We have raised Dh360m through a bank loan from Emirates NBD and Dh90m through company equity. Of the total fund of Dh1bn, 80 per cent is being raised from bank borrowings and 20 per cent from the company equity," she told Emirates Business.

Tas added the company is negotiating with other banks to raise the rest of the funds for the project. "Now we are in the fund arrangement stage, and once we have all the capital, we will begin the second phase on the other components of the project."

The land for the project, she said, is already owned by MBI. "It is family land owned by MBI Chairman [and former vice-president of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry] Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim," she said.

Properties in the development, she said, will not be sold or offered for leasehold. "We will retain and manage the entire development. The units in the scheme will be rented out," she said.

The company was founded by Al Fahim in 2003 as a venture capital firm specialising in properties and financial investments.

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