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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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