Nakheel’s REIT path

Nakheel hopes to raise as much as Dh10 billion creating tradable real estate investment trusts. The revenues will be used to fund new projects; the REITs will be listed in Singapore and Dubai.
The plan is to create two REITs: one for infrastructure with an asset value of between Dh5 billion and Dh6 billion; another for homes with a value of between Dh3 billion and Dh4 billion.
REITs are well established means of driving revenue from real estate projects – and Nakheel had been expected to go down this route – but Dubai’s meddling in the rental market must throw up new and troubling questions for investors. With rent caps a central part of Dubai’s inflation-busting policy, will Nakheel’s developments be able to maximize their potential?