Majan

Majan History

Majan was launched in November 2006 by Mizin, Tatweer’s real estate development company. Covering an area of 16.5 million square feet, the mixed-use community was branded the "Downtown of DubaiLand".

The initial master plan was designed by British firm, Halcrow and depicted a Manhattan-inspired skyline made up of 150 towers. The hope was that the project would drive an investment of AED 15 billion over the first three years and be complete by 2011.

The development consisted of 3 components: 32 percent of the area was to be residential units, 24 percent commercial units and 44 percent dedicated to retail and entertainment.

The commercial component of Majan was intended to balance the largely entertainment-focused DubaiLand economy.

Plots of land were sold to investors who would be free to develop projects within Mizin's design guidelines.

Mizin promised "new standards of execution and delivery" and announced that the main infrastructure works for Phase 1, including road, water, and electricity networks, was to be ready by the end of 2006.

One of the first Majan projects to hit the headlines was German-funded Marintime Hotel, developed by Steuruerlehgrang. Launched in December 2016, the AED 657 million building was set to be the world's seventh largest hotel and the tallest 4-star hotel in the region. The project, however, met a disastrous end when, before construction ever started, a group of German investors filed a lawsuit against the developer. It later transpired that no building permit had been acquired for the project.

In July 2007 Majan's initial infrastructure works were completed by Khansaheb Civil Engineering and the developer, Mizin, formally invited investors to begin work on their respective plots straight away.

Later the same year Damac Properties launched Madison Residences, conceived as a four- building cluster, but later built as a two-building cluster.

In August 2008 another German developer, German Realty Asset Management, launched Berlin City Centre, an AED 1.2bn development consisting of a 22-storey residential tower and an office complex. The project, unfortunately, never materialised, probably falling victim to the global financial crisis of 2008.

In October 2008, at the property show, Cityscape Dubai, developer Tameer Holding announced that they would be developing "Podium”, a 33-storey commercial skyscraper featuring the world's largest LED screen, said to be visible from a distance of 1.5 kilometres. The building, designed by Callison, would be a "green development" designed to reduce electricity and water usage "ensuring a more environmentally friendly lifestyle." Its screen, designed by Dactronics, would be "a powerful medium for advertising, messaging and art”. Podium, however, was never built and in 2016 the title of world's largest TV screen went to Emaar Properties for the LED screen on the entire eastern side of the Burj Khalifa.

By late 2009 construction had started on a few plots around Majan but not on the scale initially planned by Mizin.

Since 2010 development of Majan has been extremely slow, many projects having been hampered by the global financial crisis of 2008. The masterplan has been restructured to allow for the sale and development of smaller plots.

As of 2020 there are 28 completed buildings and around 25 more in various stages of construction or abandonment. All the buildings are mid-rise towers with the exception of two skyscrapers, Safa Tower and Al Rabia Tower, which loom high above their surrounding along Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road.