Dubai’s next big deal? Perhaps a $5 billion artificial “moon” as the city’s real estate market booms

Who said you can’t reach the moon? A proposed $5 billion real estate project is slated to be filled with skyscrapers Dubai to new heights — bringing the symbol of the heavens Earth.

Canadian entrepreneur Michael Henderson plans to build a 274-meter (900-foot) replica of the moon on top of a 30-meter (100-foot) building in Dubai, which is already home to the world’s tallest building and other architectural wonders.

Dubbed MOON, Henderson’s project may seem out of this world, but it could easily fit into this futuristic city-state. Dubai already has a red-hot property market, fueled by wealthy people fleeing restrictions imposed in their home countries during the coronavirus pandemic and by Russians seeking refuge amid Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

And even though the previous boom-and-bust cycle saw many grand projects fall apart, Henderson and others offer his vision, which is funded The moon World Resorts Inc., where he is a co-founder, may not be so far-fetched.

“We have the biggest ‘brand’ in the world,” Henderson told The Associated Press, implying that the moon itself — a celestial body — was his brand. “Eight billion people know our brand and we haven’t even started yet. “

Henderson’s proposed project includes a destination resort inside a spherical structure, complete with a 4,000-room hotel, an arena capable of holding 10,000 people and a “moon colony” that will give guests the feeling of actually walking on the moon.

THE MOON sat atop a circular, pedestal-like building and shone brightly at night. Henderson discussed the project at the Arabian Travel Market earlier in May in Dubai.

Artists commissioned by Moon World Resorts have already beaten his MOON locations — including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at 828 meters (2,710 feet). Others placed it at The Pearl of Dubai, a long-dormant project now crumbling near the man-made Palm Jumeirah archipelago, and its unfinished sister, Palm Jebel Ali.

The Pearl and Palm Jebel Ali represent the two “white elephant” projects left over from the 2009 financial crisis that rocked the sheikhdom and forced Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to bail out $20 billion to Dubai.

Now, almost 15 years later, Dubai has largely turned around. Average rents in Dubai rose 26.9% year-on-year, even after taking into account price protection measures. Last year, 86,849 residential properties were sold in Dubai, beating the previous record of 80,831 in 2009.

“Dubai is in a completely different world compared to” 2009, said Lewis Allsopp, CEO of prominent Dubai real estate agency Allsopp & Allsopp. Released products “sell out on the spot”.

Inflation and rising interest rates around the world have raised fears of a global recession. The UAE’s currency, the dirham, is pegged to the dollar, meaning it has followed the sharp hikes imposed by the Federal Reserve.

But cash is still top of mind for buyers in Dubai, with four-fifths of transactions being paid for in the unfinanced currency by 2022, said Faisal Durrani, head of Middle East research at Knight Frank real estate agency.

“You could argue that the interest rate hikes that are happening are somewhat insulated from this market, given the fact that so much of the transactional activity has been driven by cash,” Durrani said.

Other major projects are ongoing.

Nakheel, the state-owned developer behind Palm Jebel Ali, has revived plans to develop it. The developer also unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan to build 80 resorts and hotels on Dubai’s man-made islands, although they remain largely empty and under the flight path of nearby Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel.

The MOON project also includes space for a possible casino. Gambling remains illegal in the UAE, a federation of seven hereditary sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. However, major brands such as Caesar’s Palace already exist or hope to build in Dubai. Wynn Resorts plans to build a $3.9 million resort in Ras Al Khaimah, north of Dubai, with gambling to open in 2027 – meaning a change in the law is likely.

Like other high-profile, eye-catching wonders, the MOON could fit well into the “legitimacy formula of Dubai’s ruling elite,” said Christopher Davidson, a Middle East expert who wrote the recent book From Sheiks to Sultanism. Dubai is also home to the UAE space center, which sent a probe to Mars and unsuccessfully attempted to send a rover to the moon.

“They may be seen as an undemocratic elite, but nevertheless have a strong belief in science and progress — and that ends up being very legitimizing, and a megaproject like this seems to tick all those boxes,” Davidson said.

Henderson’s plan would go a step further than other globe-shaped projects like the MSG Sphere, a $2.3 billion dome covered in LED screens set to open in Las Vegas later this year.

Its structure would be completely spherical and could be illuminated like a full moon, a crescent moon, or a crescent moon.

The brightness may not sit well with potential neighbors – plans to build another MSG Sphere in London have been shelved after residents protested the significant light pollution and disruption the structure would cause.

“It’s hard to please everyone,” Henderson admitted. “You might need blackout curtains.”

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Associated Press writer John Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.