Jewel of the Creek project tops out

Dubai - First phase comprising 5-star hotel and serviced apartments on track for 2017 completion

Roda Hotels, the hospitality arm of Dubai International Real Estate, marked an important construction milestone at its Dh4 billion Jewel of the Creek project on Monday. The project is nestled between Al Maktoum Bridge and Floating Bridge on the Deira side of the Dubai Creek.
The five towers in the first phase were topped out. These include a 438-room flagship Roda five-star hotel and four towers of serviced apartments and studios. These will be delivered in August 2017. The community will also include a 60-berth marina and 20 retail and F&B outlets.
Habtoor Leighton Group is the main contractor for Jewel of the Creek while design has been done by a partnership between Kling Consult and Kieferle & Partner.
"We brought in water from the Creek inside the project and created the first phase as an island. The water has been enclosed as a salted, filtered swimming pool. It will be the largest swimming pool in the Middle East at 400 metres wide and four metres deep," informs Imad W. Elias, CEO of Roda Hotels.
Work is already in progress on phase two - it includes a 389-room non-alcoholic hotel, a 445-room four-star fashion hotel, a 405-room three-star plug-and-play hotel (where guests check in themselves) and the Dubai Dome, a multi-purpose hall with a capacity of 3,000 people. This phase will be completed in August 2018.

Pre-leasing
Retail and F&B elements will be situated on the waterfront and in the Dubai Dome, with most space being already pre-leased. Announcements about retail tenants are expected during the upcoming Arabian Travel Market.
Meanwhile, the last phase will feature waterfront chalets, to be numbered in the hundreds. These will be completed in 2019, just in time for the Expo 2020.
There will be nine towers in total across the Jewel of the Creek, with all of them targeting the hospitality sector. None will be available on a freehold basis.
Roda Hotels will soon emerge as one among the biggest employers in Dubai, with plans to hire almost 10,000 employees across all its properties by 2017.
"We will start recruiting by September this year. We will have a lot of staff from India, Sri Lanka and a high percentage of UAE nationals," says Elias. 
"Dubai has 85,000 rooms now. I believe the city needs another 120,000 rooms to cater to demand created by new airline destinations, the GCC train network, increasing number of tourists, the Expo 2020 and other exhibitions. As a case in point, during the recent Gulffood 2016, all the city hotels were full," the CEO suggests.  deepthi@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai