Cirrus becomes first successful bidder in Nakheel's sealed bid land auctions

Not only was Cirrus the first developer to be successful, it also managed to win the bid for one of only two plots which allow for the development of a five star resort.

As part of its resort in the Canal District, Cirrus will be building a luxurious low rise development which will include a five star hotel, retail mall and residential community featuring serviced villas and apartment buildings. This area is a highly desirable location within Nakheel's Waterfront development. Built over 1.8 million square metres of land, the Canal District will ultimately house a population of 75,000 people and is due for completion in 2016. There will be 8km of continuous public promenade on the canal edge which will ultimately connect to the nearby beach.

Earlier this year, Cirrus launched another project at Waterfront - the Dhs3bn residential and commercial development, Aquarius Gate, in the Madinat Al Arab district. Last year, the company launched an Dhs1bn project, Celestial Heights, at Downtown Jebel Ali.

Behnam Eshragh, Chairman and CEO of Cirrus Developments, comments: "We were doubly delighted last week to be the first successful developer at the sealed bid auction for the Canal District at Waterfront and to secure one of only two plots which will become five star resorts in this area.

"The introduction of sealed bid auctions by Nakheel is good news for developers and we congratulate them on the initiative. Under the terms and conditions, buyers of the plots are obligated to develop the land rather than re-sell the land. That means we won't be developing next to unoccupied plots which are being re-sold over and over and that's good for an area or district as a whole."

Matt Joyce, Managing Director, Waterfront comments: "The introduction of the sealed bid auctions for plots at the Canal District at Waterfront have proven to be very successful and very popular. At such an enviable location, we wanted to ensure that we got the process absolutely right and we wanted to introduce as much transparency and openness as possible.

"We were pleased that Cirrus was the first developer to bid successfully and scoop one of the two plots reserved for resorts in this area of Waterfront. We have already worked successfully with Cirrus with their sell-out Aquarius Gate project at Waterfront and in fact they were the first to gain full technical approval from Nakheel at Waterfront."

Waterfront is the world's largest coastal development and it will provide more than 70 kilometres of coastline to Dubai. It is an entirely new masterplanned city which will become home to an estimated population of 1.5 million people.