The masterplan for the $1.6bn Bluewaters Island project off the coast of Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Residences is to undergo a redesign.
The island, which is being developed by government-owned developer Meraas, is currently split into three zones.
One contains the Dubai Eye – the world’s tallest, 210m-high Ferris Wheel – and is surrounded by other retail and leisure units. A second zone, facing out onto the Arabian Gulf, is currenty earmarked for hotels, and a third, mixed-use zone predominantly contains residential units.
However, according to Matthew Darling, senior development manager at project management firm Mirage Leisure & Development, this could soon change.
“We’ve repositioned things to make it more inviting for the guest,” he said in comments published by Construction Week Online.
Mirage Leisure & Development is a South African company started by Dene Murphy in 1995, who had previously worked as a development director for companies owned by luxury hotels specialist Sol Kerzner.
The company specialises in developing masterplans for mixed-use and hospitality schemes in the Middle East, North and South Africa and the Indian Ocean.
It has completed 42 masterplans to date, and is currently working on the fourth phase of expansion of Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah complex, as well as the Dubai Opera House complex.
For Bluewaters, the company is responsible for development management, programme management, cost management and project management.
“We manage the development on behalf of the client,” he said. “We manage the budgets, the feasibilities, we run the business models and analysis – putting it into an experience at the end of the day. This is for Dubai and for the guests.
“We look at what the guests – us, and our families and friends – will visit and what we will take away from that. There’s a lot of passion put into it.”
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