Dubai Festival City (Arabic: دبي فستيفال سيتي), also known as Al Kheeran (Arabic: الخيران), is a large residential, business and entertainment development in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, owned by Al-Futtaim Group. Administratively, it is part of Sector 4 and is located in the north-central area of Dubai.
Dubai Festival City is the Middle East's largest mixed-use development: elements for work, living, and leisure will be contained within the project. Once completed, Festival City will comprise a series of residential communities, numerous hotels, malls, a golf course and other entertainment sites, and a full suite of public services, including schools.
Description
Construction of the development, which was undertaken by Al FuttaimCarillion,[2] began in 2003 and was expected to take 12 years. The project spans 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) of water frontage on the eastern bank of Dubai Creek and is 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) from Dubai International Airport. As of mid-2006, investments in the project had exceeded 11 billion AED (3 billion USD).[3]
The first phase of construction comprised over 14,500 m2 (156,077 sq ft) of façade roofs designed and built by Austrian specialist contractor Waagner Biro,[4] mainly over the crescent mall, festival square, oval court and knuckle. Within the development, Waagner Biro also constructed seven pavilions.[4] When completed, the development will cover a total area of 526 hectares (1,300 acres).[5]