Property developer Nakheel wants recurring income to increase to more than 50 percent of all revenue by 2021 as it opens more shopping malls in Dubai, its chairman told Reuters. Nakheel, the developer of the palm shaped islands in the emirate, expects leasable retail space to more than triple to 17 million square feet in the next three to five years from 4.5 million square feet.
"We see good opportunities in retail," Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said in an interview.
State-owned Nakheel expanded two malls on the fringes of Dubai last year, Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta, and has other sites under development. Recurring income from non-development segments such as retail and hospitality currently accounts for 30 percent of revenue.