Formula One park project halted
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 03, 2009 00:00
DUBAI - Due to financial crisis and lack of liquidity from the banks, Union Properties has no choice but to postpone the construction of world's first Formula One theme park until 2010. The park was planned to be a part of the Dubai’s Motor City project
The developer of the world's first Formula One theme park said Sunday completion of the project has been pushed back a year to 2010 because of a lack of funding, the latest sign the global financial crisis is dragging down the fortunes of this faltering Gulf boomtown.
Developers across Dubai have been postponing the glitzy mega-developments that helped transform this city-state from little more than a patch of sand a decade ago to the business and tourist center of the Middle East.
Simon Azzam, the chief executive of Union Properties, the company building the Formula One theme park in Dubai's Motor City, said construction of the $460 million project stopped because the banks were no longer willing to lend money.
Listing the reasons
"Due to the financial crisis and lack of liquidity from the banks, we have no choice but to postpone the project until 2010," Azzam told The Associated Press in a phone interview Sunday.
Azzam said after three years of construction, half the theme park has been built and the rides are ready to be installed. He said the only chance for the park to open on time would be to get funding immediately.
"We can still open at the end of 2009, but it is critical to get finances within weeks rather than months," said Azzam. "This park is the first of its kind in the world and it is of strategic importance to Dubai and the UAE."
The global credit crunch has significantly clipped Dubai's grand ambitions, curtailing plans for the tallest skyscraper in the world - nearly two-thirds of a mile high - and more artificial islands off the emirate's coast.
An estimated 25 percent of more than 800 development projects in Dubai have been suspended due to the economic crisis, according to Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Several leading ratings firms have expressed concerns about Dubai's indebtedness and bank exposure linked to the building boom.
The UAE's central government based in Abu Dhabi recently was forced to step in with a bailout effort by buying half of the $20 billion in bonds Dubai issued to address the cash crunch.
Abu Dhabi has also pushed large infrastructure projects over the past few years, such as a Formula One circuit that will host its first ever race in November. But Abu Dhabi has been more cautious about its development strategy and possesses a majority of the country's oil.
Dubai's Formula One theme park is one of five projects in Motor City, which also includes residential areas and office towers that Azzam said will be completed on time. Motor City includes the Dubai Autodrome - a facility that is up and running and includes a 3.35-mile (5.39-kilometer) FIA certified track.
A host of businesses use the track all year for product launches, corporate events and concerts. Union Properties is one of Dubai's property investment and real estate services companies that was established as a private company in 1985. It was floated on the UAE bourse in 1993.
Developers across Dubai have been postponing the glitzy mega-developments that helped transform this city-state from little more than a patch of sand a decade ago to the business and tourist center of the Middle East.
Simon Azzam, the chief executive of Union Properties, the company building the Formula One theme park in Dubai's Motor City, said construction of the $460 million project stopped because the banks were no longer willing to lend money.
Listing the reasons
"Due to the financial crisis and lack of liquidity from the banks, we have no choice but to postpone the project until 2010," Azzam told The Associated Press in a phone interview Sunday.
Azzam said after three years of construction, half the theme park has been built and the rides are ready to be installed. He said the only chance for the park to open on time would be to get funding immediately.
"We can still open at the end of 2009, but it is critical to get finances within weeks rather than months," said Azzam. "This park is the first of its kind in the world and it is of strategic importance to Dubai and the UAE."
The global credit crunch has significantly clipped Dubai's grand ambitions, curtailing plans for the tallest skyscraper in the world - nearly two-thirds of a mile high - and more artificial islands off the emirate's coast.
An estimated 25 percent of more than 800 development projects in Dubai have been suspended due to the economic crisis, according to Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Several leading ratings firms have expressed concerns about Dubai's indebtedness and bank exposure linked to the building boom.
The UAE's central government based in Abu Dhabi recently was forced to step in with a bailout effort by buying half of the $20 billion in bonds Dubai issued to address the cash crunch.
Abu Dhabi has also pushed large infrastructure projects over the past few years, such as a Formula One circuit that will host its first ever race in November. But Abu Dhabi has been more cautious about its development strategy and possesses a majority of the country's oil.
Dubai's Formula One theme park is one of five projects in Motor City, which also includes residential areas and office towers that Azzam said will be completed on time. Motor City includes the Dubai Autodrome - a facility that is up and running and includes a 3.35-mile (5.39-kilometer) FIA certified track.
A host of businesses use the track all year for product launches, corporate events and concerts. Union Properties is one of Dubai's property investment and real estate services companies that was established as a private company in 1985. It was floated on the UAE bourse in 1993.