Meraas Awards an AED 590 Million Main Construction Contract for City Walk Crestlane Phase 3: Parkway International Contracting to Deliver 394 Apartments in Four Buildings in Central Dubai by Q3 2028

Published: 2026-09-08

On 7 September 2026 Meraas, a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate, awarded Parkway International Contracting L.L.C. a main construction contract worth more than AED 590 million (about USD 161 million) for Phase 3 of City Walk Crestlane: 394 apartments in four residential buildings in the Al Wasl area of central Dubai. Construction has already started, and completion is expected by the third quarter of 2028. It is the third main contract Meraas has placed at City Walk in 15 months, after AED 450 million for Central Park Plaza in June 2025 and AED 440 million for City Walk Northline in November 2025, which takes the number of apartments under construction in the district under those three contracts to 910 and their combined value to about AED 1.48 billion. For buyers the award gives a dated delivery window, Q3 2028, for new homes within reach of Downtown Dubai and DIFC. For contractors and suppliers it means a new AED 590 million package of work in the centre of the city.

What Meraas announced on 7 September 2026

The statement was published by the Government of Dubai Media Office on 7 September 2026. Meraas has appointed Parkway International Contracting L.L.C. as main contractor for four residential buildings with 394 apartments that form Phase 3 of City Walk Crestlane. Construction has commenced, and the developer expects completion by Q3 2028.

Khalid Al Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Holding Real Estate, said: “Crestlane’s continued expansion reflects sustained demand for design-led urban living in central Dubai. This main construction award advances the next stage of delivery, building on City Walk’s distinctive combination of high-quality homes and an established walkable urban environment. Our focus remains on disciplined execution and enduring quality.”

Tarek Zoabi, Managing Partner at Parkway International Contracting, said: “We are proud to deepen our partnership with Meraas through the delivery of this latest phase of City Walk Crestlane. Our teams are focused on maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality and programme management throughout construction.”

Meraas describes Crestlane as an extension of City Walk’s walkable urban environment: contemporary homes set among landscaped open spaces and water features. Across the wider community residents get swimming pools, sports facilities, a fitness centre, a floating clubhouse and an outdoor cinema, on top of the retail, dining and public spaces that already operate in City Walk. The location gives direct access to Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Jumeirah Beach, Sheikh Zayed Road and Dubai International Airport.

The contract in numbers

City Walk Crestlane: the masterplan and the phases so far

Crestlane is the residential expansion of City Walk, the mixed-use district Meraas built in Al Wasl between Sheikh Zayed Road and Jumeirah. When Meraas presented the next chapter of Crestlane on 26 June 2025, the Media Office release put the full masterplan at 22 residential buildings with 2,625 residential units on 365,676 square metres, alongside retail, recreation and open spaces. The community is planned around a central park, resort-style pools, an outdoor cinema, an indoor cinema room, a kids’ club, a pet park, yoga lawns, running and cycling tracks, a fitness studio, a games room and co-working spaces.

The phases that have been detailed in public so far look like this:

• June 2025: two residential towers with 198 units, from one- to three-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom duplexes with private terraces and five-bedroom penthouses with double-height living spaces. MEED reported the handover target for this phase as the third quarter of 2028.
• December 2025: Crestlane 4 and Crestlane 5, 360 residences in total, 201 in Crestlane 4 and 159 in Crestlane 5, each phase in two mid-rise towers, with one- to four-bedroom apartments, double-height special units and four-bedroom park duplexes. The amenity list for these phases adds an overwater wellness centre, training studios, collaborative workspaces, sports courts and sun terraces.
• Phase 3, the subject of the 7 September 2026 award: 394 apartments in four residential buildings, due by Q3 2028.

Added together, the announcements cover 952 homes, or a little over a third of the 2,625 units in the masterplan, so Crestlane will keep producing launches and contract awards for several years. The floating clubhouse and the overwater wellness centre explain why water features dominate the marketing: the site is planned around water features and landscaped parkland rather than a single pool deck.

Who is Parkway International Contracting

Parkway International Contracting is a Dubai-based general contractor. According to the company’s own profile it has operated in the UAE as a general contractor since 2005, while its joinery division, Parkway Katilink Joinery, dates from 1998. Its portfolio includes the Centara Mirage Beach Resort Dubai, the Park Horizon project in Dubai Hills Estate and the Arabian Ranches 3 Phase 2D community centre. In November 2018 Nakheel awarded the company an AED 184.5 million contract to build the 375-room AVANI Ibn Battuta Mall hotel, a 15-floor building of 278,000 square feet next to the mall’s metro link, according to Gulf News. Nakheel and Meraas now sit inside the same group, Dubai Holding Real Estate, which is the context for Tarek Zoabi’s remark about deepening the partnership.

The Crestlane award is, by value, one of the largest single contracts the company has announced. At more than AED 590 million for 394 apartments, the contract works out at roughly AED 1.5 million of construction cost per apartment, which is consistent with the mid-rise, high-specification format of City Walk rather than with a high-rise tower.

Meraas’s construction programme: AED 3.9 billion of awards in 15 months

The Crestlane contract sits in a run of awards that shows how Dubai Holding Real Estate is converting off-plan sales into construction:

The four awards add up to about AED 3.9 billion for 910 apartments and 557 villas. Meraas is funding this from a strong sales base: it sold AED 7.5 billion of property in the first half of 2026, sixth in the ranking of the UAE’s top ten developers by H1 2026 sales. Its parent also works on the demand side. On 29 June 2026 Dubai Holding Real Estate built Golden Visa and investor-residency guidance into the sales process at Nakheel and Meraas, so a buyer of a qualifying Crestlane apartment can start the residency file at the sales centre.

The market these 394 apartments are entering

The contract lands in a market that is still expanding in volume. According to Dubai Land Department figures reported by Emirates 24|7 on 20 July 2026, real estate transactions in Dubai reached AED 419.94 billion across 112,850 transactions in the first half of 2026. Sales accounted for AED 286.44 billion through 86,000 deals, of which off-plan sales were AED 139.75 billion through 58,840 deals and completed-property sales AED 146.69 billion through 27,160 deals. In other words, more than two thirds of sales by number were off-plan, the segment Crestlane Phase 3 belongs to. Our weekly review of Dubai’s AED 12 billion property week shows the same split at a smaller scale, with the Burj Khalifa area, next door to City Walk, leading by sales value.

Demand is driven by population: Dubai reached 4.74 million residents by mid-2026, and the removal in April 2026 of the minimum property value for the two-year investor visa widened the pool of buyers, as we set out in our outlook for the Dubai property market in H2 2026. The policy frame is the Dubai Real Estate Sector Strategy 2033, which targets AED 1 trillion in transactions and a home-ownership rate of 33%, as presented by the Dubai Land Department at IPS 2026 on 7 September 2026, the same day the Crestlane contract was announced.

What it means for business in the UAE

• Buyers of off-plan homes: Phase 3 adds 394 apartments with a stated completion of Q3 2028 to the supply of central Dubai, where new mid-rise stock is scarce compared with the outer districts. A named main contractor and construction already under way are the two facts an off-plan buyer wants to see before paying instalments, because they reduce the risk of a project stalling between launch and mobilisation.
• Payments and registration: in Dubai every off-plan payment goes into the project’s escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007, and the developer draws funds against construction progress. The buyer’s contract is registered with the Dubai Land Department in the interim register (Oqood), and the registration fee is 4% of the purchase price. Since 3 September 2026 developers register projects, transactions and escrow accounts through the Initial Registration platform of the Dubai Land Department, which has cut a registration from about 30 minutes to under five.
• Residency: a Crestlane apartment worth AED 2 million or more qualifies its owner for the 10-year Golden Visa, and since April 2026 the two-year investor visa has no minimum property value. Dubai Holding Real Estate now handles the guidance at its sales centres, with an approved visa services provider filing the application.
• Tax: if an individual holds the apartment personally and lets it, the rental income is outside the scope of UAE corporate tax under Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023, provided the activity does not require a licence; a company holding the same apartment pays 9% corporate tax on taxable income above AED 375,000. Residential rent is exempt from VAT, and the first supply of a new residential building within three years of completion is zero-rated.
• Contractors and suppliers: an AED 590 million main contract is broken into subcontract packages, from piling, concrete and facades to MEP, joinery, pools, landscaping and the marine works for a floating clubhouse. A foreign specialist that wants to bid needs a UAE entity: a Dubai mainland licence with the relevant contracting or trading activity, registration with Dubai Municipality for building works, a corporate bank account and work permits for site staff.

Checklist for buying an off-plan apartment in Dubai from abroad

• Check the project on the Dubai Land Department’s project register: registration number, escrow account and the percentage of construction completed, which DLD updates from engineering reports.
• Pay the reservation deposit and every instalment only into the escrow account named in the sale and purchase agreement, never to a broker’s or an individual’s account.
• Budget the 4% DLD registration fee, the Oqood fee and the developer’s administrative charges on top of the price, and confirm which party pays the fee in the contract.
• Match the payment plan to the construction schedule: instalments during construction, the balance at handover, in this case expected in Q3 2028, and check the contract clause on delays and the compensation it provides.
• Decide who will own the apartment, you personally or a company: the choice affects the visa route, inheritance, corporate tax and the bank’s due diligence, and it is easier to settle before the contract is signed than after.
• Open a UAE bank account before the first instalment is due: international transfers to an escrow account from abroad work, but rent collection, service charges and a later mortgage all need a local account.
• If you are buying remotely, issue a power of attorney notarised and attested for use in the UAE, so that a representative can sign at the sales centre and at DLD.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital works with foreign founders and investors who move their business or their capital to Dubai and need the legal shell around a property deal. We handle company setup on the mainland and in free zones, including holding structures for real estate, corporate and personal bank account opening with UAE banks, and work permits and residence visas for owners and staff. Accounting, audit and tax filings are performed by licensed accounting firms from our partner network. To discuss a structure for buying or holding property in Dubai, or a licence for a contracting or supply business, contact us.

Conclusion

An AED 590 million main contract for 394 apartments is a mid-sized award by the standards of Dubai’s largest developers, but it is a clear signal about City Walk: with Central Park Plaza, Northline and now Crestlane Phase 3, Meraas has 910 apartments under construction in the district on contracts worth about AED 1.48 billion, with deliveries dated Q3 2027 and Q3 2028. Parkway International Contracting gets its largest publicly announced job, buyers get a mobilised site and a completion date, and the supply chain gets a new package of work in the centre of Dubai. Crestlane still has almost two thirds of its 2,625 units to launch and contract, so this will not be the last award from Al Wasl.

FAQ

What did Meraas announce on 7 September 2026?

Meraas, a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate, awarded Parkway International Contracting L.L.C. a main construction contract worth more than AED 590 million for Phase 3 of City Walk Crestlane in Dubai. The contract covers 394 apartments in four residential buildings; construction has already started and completion is expected by the third quarter of 2028.

Where is City Walk Crestlane and what does the community include?

City Walk Crestlane is the residential expansion of City Walk in the Al Wasl area of central Dubai, with access to Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Jumeirah Beach, Sheikh Zayed Road and Dubai International Airport. The masterplan covers 22 residential buildings with 2,625 units on 365,676 square metres, and residents get swimming pools, sports facilities, a fitness centre, a floating clubhouse, an outdoor cinema and landscaped open spaces with water features.

Who is Parkway International Contracting?

Parkway International Contracting is a Dubai-based general contractor that, according to its own profile, has operated in the UAE since 2005. Its projects include the Centara Mirage Beach Resort Dubai, Park Horizon in Dubai Hills Estate and the 375-room AVANI Ibn Battuta Mall hotel, awarded by Nakheel in 2018 for AED 184.5 million. Its Managing Partner is Tarek Zoabi.

How does an off-plan purchase in Dubai protect the buyer?

Every payment for an off-plan unit in Dubai goes into a project escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007, and the developer can only draw funds against construction progress. The sale is registered with the Dubai Land Department in the interim register, known as Oqood, for a fee of 4% of the price, and the project’s registration and completion percentage can be checked on DLD’s public project register before signing.