Nakheel Off-Plan Properties in Dubai
Nakheel built Palm Jumeirah, launched in 2001, and is now building Palm Jebel Ali and Dubai Islands. It is state-owned, part of Dubai Holding. Its record includes a debt restructuring in 2011 and a 15-year pause on Palm Jebel Ali, so judge each project on its own progress.
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The short answer
Nakheel is the master developer behind Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Dubai Islands and The World. It is state-owned. The Dubai government took direct ownership in 2011, and since March 2024 Nakheel has been part of Dubai Holding, the investment group of Dubai’s Ruler. Nakheel’s own releases now call it a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate.
As master developer, Nakheel creates and services the land and builds some of the homes itself; other developers build on its plots too. On Dubai Islands, Ellington and Beyond sell their own buildings beside Nakheel’s. Check whose name is on the sale contract.
Track record
Palm Jumeirah is the part of the record most buyers know. Nakheel launched it in 2001. It reaches 5 km into the Gulf and is home to about 25,000 people. The Palm Jumeirah guide covers what it is like to live there now.
The harder part came with the 2008 crash. In November 2009, Nakheel’s parent at the time, Dubai World, asked its creditors for a standstill on about $26bn of debt. Nakheel’s $3.5bn sukuk (an Islamic bond), due on 14 December 2009, was repaid only after Abu Dhabi agreed that day to put $10bn into the Dubai Financial Support Fund.
Nakheel’s AED 60bn restructuring closed in August 2011. Contractors and suppliers owed more than AED 500,000 were paid 40% in cash and 60% in a new sukuk. Nakheel repaid the AED 4.4bn trade-creditor sukuk in August 2016, and its chairman said it had no debt left.
Projects stalled as well. Work on Palm Jebel Ali began in 2002, stopped in 2008 and restarted in 2023. Nakheel says the first villas there hand over in phases from later in 2026. In January 2026, The National reported 108 villas on Frond O on track for late 2027. Palm Deira was suspended too and came back much smaller, as Deira Islands. In August 2022, Nakheel renamed it Dubai Islands.
Handovers have picked up since. In August 2026, Nakheel began handing over 892 homes at Jebel Ali Village, an 80-hectare community.
What Nakheel’s homes are like
Nakheel’s new homes are mostly on its own islands, near the water. On Dubai Islands it sells apartments at Bay Grove Residences, and flats, beach houses and villas with hotel services at Rixos Hotel & Residences. Both are off-plan, with 1 to 4 bedrooms. On Palm Jebel Ali, the first homes due to hand over are villas.
Its project pages are light on numbers. For both Dubai Islands projects, Nakheel publishes no price list, handover date, payment plan or sizes by home type.
What it does publish is useful. Its construction-progress pages show its own inspection figure next to the one from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). For Rixos Beach Residences, Nakheel’s inspection on 11 June 2026 said 33.36% complete; RERA’s on 26 March 2026 said 22.93%. The regulator’s figure is the independent one.
Who Nakheel suits, and who it doesn’t
Nakheel suits a buyer who wants a beach address on a master-planned island and can wait while it fills in. Dubai Islands is 20 minutes from Dubai International Airport by Nakheel’s estimate. It has no metro, and Nakheel names no school among its amenities.
It doesn’t suit a buyer who needs a fixed handover date, a price list and floor plans before making an enquiry. Nor does it suit one who needs rent soon: none of these homes is built yet, so there is no rental record to judge by.
What Diamond checks before recommending a Nakheel project
- Registration and escrow. Dubai law requires a separate escrow account for each off-plan project, used only for building it (Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, Article 9). Diamond checks the project’s registration with the Dubai Land Department.
- The phase, the building and the contractor. Bay Grove is planned in four phases. In September 2026, Gulf News reported a contractor for Phases 1 and 3 only.
- RERA’s progress figure, not just Nakheel’s, against the completion date written into the sale contract.
- The service charge, and at Rixos what the brand’s services add to it.
- Resale before handover: what Nakheel requires and charges, in writing.
Message Diamond on WhatsApp for the current price list, floor plans and payment plan of any Nakheel project, so you have them in writing before you pay a reservation fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, though the owner has changed. After its 2011 restructuring, Nakheel moved out of Dubai World into direct ownership by the Dubai government. Since March 2024 it has been part of Dubai Holding, the investment group of Dubai's Ruler, and its own board was abolished.
Nakheel was at the centre of it. Its $3.5bn sukuk, due on 14 December 2009, was repaid after Abu Dhabi put $10bn into Dubai's support fund that day. An AED 60bn restructuring closed in August 2011, and Nakheel repaid its last sukuk in August 2016.
Nakheel gives no date for Bay Grove Residences or Rixos. Gulf News reported in September 2026 that Bay Grove's Phases 1 and 3 have a contractor and are due late 2028; Phase 4, the final release, had none yet. At Rixos, RERA's March 2026 inspection put the two parts at 22.93% and 36.34%.
Nakheel's progress pages put its own latest inspection beside RERA's, and the two are often weeks apart. At Palm Beach Towers, Nakheel's inspection on 11 June 2026 said 83.53% complete; RERA's on 19 May 2026 said 76.43%. RERA is the regulator, so judge the build by its figure and the completion date in your contract.
In phases, with no single date. Nakheel says the first villas hand over later in 2026, and it will announce each later phase once that phase is approved. RERA's January 2026 inspections put Fronds K to P at between 15.60% and 31.45% built. Ask for your frond's figure and contract date.
Mostly on resale. Nakheel's only Palm Jumeirah projects still being built are Como Residences and Palm Beach Towers. Its other Palm buildings, such as Shoreline Apartments and Golden Mile, are lived in, so you buy from an owner. The DLD then needs the developer's e-NOC and charges buyer and seller 2% each.
Possibly, subject to bank approval. Nakheel lists four partner banks for selected off-plan projects, and each wants 50% of the price paid first. ADCB sets no minimum build stage for Palm Jebel Ali; CBD, ADIB and Emirates NBD want 30% built. At handover, Nakheel issues the mortgage NOC your bank asks for.
RERA approves them. Under Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019, no service charge may be collected without RERA's approval of an audited budget (Article 27). Dubai Holding Community Management runs Nakheel's communities. At Rixos, the charge also covers the brand's core services and Accor's owner fee. The DLD's Service Charge Index lists approved rates.
Talk to Diamond
Twenty-five years in property, the last of them in Dubai. Ask about a specific building, what a mortgage would look like, or whether a price is fair.
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