Dubai developer Nakheel announces Dhs230m relief package, offers rent waivers

Dubai developer Nakheel has announced a Dhs230m economic relief package for its customers in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The package includes free rental periods for retail and hospitality partners which operate within its malls. This will take effect when the malls, currently closed under government directives, reopen.

Nakheel’s mall portfolio includes Ibn Battuta Mall, Dragon Mart 1 and 2, and The Pointe, among others.

Small retail business owners who lease spaces at Nakheel’s master communities will also receive a rental holiday.

Nakheel will waive administration charges across various services for three months, and will also reduce district cooling charges by 10 per cent for three months for commercial and residential customers.

Nakheel is contacting eligible business partners with details of how the stimulus package will specifically apply to them.

In January, it appointed Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani as its new chairman to replace Ali Rashid Lootah.

Read: Dubai developer Nakheel appoints new chairman

“Every business and individual in Dubai – and across the globe – is affected in some way by Covid-19. As a leading, responsible developer, we must support and work with our loyal customers and business partners who are facing economic challenges during these unprecedented times,” said Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani, chairman of Nakheel.

Nakheel has undertaken a two-week deep disinfection programme at all its 647 residential buildings across Dubai which will conclude on April 12. The buildings include those in Palm Jumeirah, Discovery Gardens, The Gardens, Jumeirah Heights, Masakin Al Furjan, Badrah and International City and the sterilisation covers all common areas including lifts, lobbies and corridors.

Its portfolio includes 19 retail projects with a combined 17 million sqft of leasable space; 18 hotels, resorts and serviced apartments with a total of 6,600 keys and 24 clubs and restaurants in Dubai.

The company’s retail, hospitality and leasing businesses generated revenues of Dhs2.5bn in 2018.

In a similar rent-relief package offered to commercial tenants in Dubai, UAE-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group pledged a Dhs100m fund to offer up to three months’ worth of rental relief to eligible tenants across its malls including Dubai Festival City Mall and the Festival Plaza mall, it announced on March 19.

Read: UAE’s Al-Futtaim to provide mall tenants three-month free occupancy