Dubai developers thrown retail lifeline as home sales sink

Dubai’s developers, battered by three years of falling prices for homes and offices, are seeking refuge in retail assets as shopping tourism powers the economy.

Emaar Properties PJSC said today it’s expanding the Dubai Mall, the world’s biggest, by 1 million square feet (92,903 square meters) as retail accounts for a growing share of the company’s income. Nakheel PJSC, the government-owned company that restructured $16.1 billion of debt last year, is adding to its Dragon Mart shopping center and trying to raise funds to build a cluster of restaurants and stores at the tip of its Palm Jumeirah artificial island.

“Most developers are looking to build recurring revenues because there are so few property sales happening right now,” said Patrick Gaffney, an analyst at HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd. “The sectors that are doing best are retail and hotels because of strong tourist arrivals.”

Source: BusinessWeek.com