Guide to the new Marasi Business Bay neighbourhood being built on the banks of the Dubai Creek, part of the Dubai Water Canal project

1 A new waterside hub
According to huge plans revealed at the end of May, the face of Business Bay is set to change dramatically over the next seven years. Mega-development Marasi Business Bay will see the creation of a waterside residential and retail area even larger than Dubai Marina. The real estate developer behind the project, Dubai Properties Group, has a history of creating some of the most well-known and oft-frequented neighbourhoods in the city, including Jumeirah Beach Residence.

2 Beyond Bay Square
The project will sit on the banks of Dubai Water Canal, just behind the quietly cool confines of Bay Square, which is perhaps best known for branches of Pantry Café, BookMunch and Nofara.

3 Boardwalk beauty
Marasi Business Bay’s promenade will be a leg-stretching 12 kilometres long by the time it’s completed in September, Dubai Properties Group has announced. That means the city’s newest waterside walkway will be 50 percent longer than Dubai Marina’s eight-kilometre stretch.

4 Holidaying in a business hub
It may have hotels but most Dubaians would agree Business Bay has more suits than sandal-wearing tourists. This multidimensional project will breathe new life into a part of Dubai not known for its sightseeing and entertainment, making it a key stop for future holidaymakers.

5 Rule the waves
Perhaps the standout feature of this multifaceted beauty of a development is the 200 luxury water homes to be built along the canal providing direct boat access to your front door (does it get any more James Bond than that?). So far, we know they’ll have two to three bedrooms, be a minimum of 1,500 square feet in size and have ultra-cool glass walls for optimum viewing of the surrounds.

6 Low-rise Dubai
Okay, some of the hotels and apartments planned for Marasi Business Bay will be in line with Dubai’s affinity for sky-scraping, but expect development around Dubai Water Canal to be low-rise and sprawling: 250,000 square metres of open space according to initial estimates.

7 The life aquatic
The project will provide two sea entrances to the east of the city, connecting the mouth of Dubai Creek in Deira to the sea in Jumeirah, in what will look almost like a semicircle from the sky up above. We can only imagine it will transform our city in the most astonishing of ways, and in future, who knows? Perhaps our commute to work will be on water rather than on land…

8 Creek chic
History buffs will know that the Creek is where it all began. Long before Dubai transformed into the Middle Eastern financial hub it is today, trade with the outside world – mainly through pearling and fishing – began here in the heart of the old city. “The new project will strengthen the historic relationship between Dubai and its Creek through the addition of a new dimension to the residential offering, tourism and leisure,” Dubai Holding Chairman Mohammad Abdulla Al Gergawi proudly announced.

9 A new city yacht club
We’ll say it again: Dubai Marina, Business Bay is coming to get you! With 1,250 berths and an RTA marina station, Marasi Business Bay’s Yacht Club will feature other sensational services such as floating restaurants and cafés, onshore boutique shopping and many other leisure and entertainment facilities still to be confirmed.

10 Rome wasn’t built in a day
Even with this city’s lightning-speed ability to transform and modernise, we will still have to wait until 2023 to see Marasi Business Bay 100 percent complete. The waterfront promenade will be finished by September (just in time for the opening of the Dubai Water Canal) and the yacht club and parkland area will open to the public  in 2020.

In Numbers

Marasi Business Bay

3
The number of main areas Marasi is divided up into. These are The Yacht Club, The Park and The Pier.

12
The total length in kilometres of the promenade running the perimeter of the new marina, once complete.

1,250
The number of berths that will be available in the enormous marina for yachts, boats and other vessels.

60,000
The number of people, in millions, who currently visit Downtown Dubai and Business Bay every single year.

Author: Alex Dunham

Source: timeoutdubai.com