On 17 September 2026, Nakheel — a developer brand within Dubai Holding Real Estate — announced that it had awarded a main construction contract worth more than Dh800 million to Metac General Contracting for 537 homes at Bay Grove Residences on Dubai Islands. The contract covers phases 1 and 3 of the project; main construction works are targeted for completion by the end of 2028. The full Bay Grove master plan covers 1,154 homes across 15 buildings.
What has been signed
The Dh800 million+ contract is the main construction contract for two already-sold phases of Bay Grove Residences: phases 1 and 3. Scope includes basement construction, in-plot engineering infrastructure and community amenities — swimming pools, sports and play courts, and a fitness centre. The contractor, Metac General Contracting, is a local contractor with experience delivering large-scale residential projects in Dubai.
The award was commented on by Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Dubai Holding Real Estate. Since 2024, Nakheel has sat inside Dubai Holding Real Estate — Dubai's government-owned residential holding, which consolidated several historic Dubai developer brands under one roof; hence the group-level spokesperson on transactions of this size. The Nakheel developer brand itself remains on the project — and on the press release masthead.
Phases 1 and 3: 537 homes, 7 buildings, delivery by end-2028
Inside the contract are 537 units across 7 residential buildings:
- Phase 1: 296 homes across four buildings — B12, B13, B14, B15 — in the Marina District on Island B of Dubai Islands. The buildings share a common podium that forms a single residential core.
- Phase 3: 241 homes across three buildings, unveiled in April 2025 — the final phase of Bay Grove inside the current award.
Formats span 1- to 3-bedroom apartments, plus 4-bedroom duplex and penthouse units on the upper levels. Per Nakheel's official description, both phases are sold out by the time the contract was signed — so this is not a new sales launch, but a lock-in of contractor and target date for existing buyers. The main construction works target completion by the end of 2028.
The Bay Grove master plan and where it sits on Dubai Islands
The full Bay Grove master plan is 1,154 homes across 15 residential buildings in four phases. Net of the current award for phases 1 and 3 (537 units), that leaves phases 2 and 4 to bring in another 617 homes, which Nakheel will roll out as separate packages; dates and contractor for those phases have not yet been publicly announced.
The Dubai Islands cluster itself is a five-island group covering roughly 17 sq km with 20 km of beaches and around 50 km of waterfront, forming part of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. It sits roughly 20 minutes' drive from Downtown Dubai and DXB airport, with direct pedestrian access to the coastline. The Marina District, home to Bay Grove, is the residential core of one of the islands.
What this means for buyers and investors
A few practical takeaways.
- An awarded contract is not a delivery guarantee, but it materially reduces slippage risk. Signing the main construction contract on already-sold phases locks in a general contractor and a target delivery date. For SPA buyers this is a signal that the project has moved past the initial excavation-and-early-piling stage into the main works stage. Dubai's recent track record on programme dates has been reasonable, but payment milestones should still be reconciled against actual site progress on each individual home.
- Sales are closed — entry now runs through resale or the next phases. Both phases in this award (1 and 3) are officially sold out. Realistic entry points today are either nomination/assignment resales inside these buildings, or waiting for the launch of phases 2 and 4 (617 homes; no date announced yet).
- Yield needs a proper calculation. A 6–9% gross rental yield on Dubai property is frequently cited in marketing material, but the net figure after service charges, brokerage, vacancy and tourism tax is materially lower. That is particularly sensitive for new island clusters going through a 4–5-year lease-up cycle. How to model this properly is covered in a separate deep dive on where net ROI on Dubai property actually gets clipped.
- Residency through property — verify the thresholds up front. If the purchase is being paired with UAE residency plans, the Golden Visa property route today runs from an AED 2 million DLD-valued property, with mortgages and off-plan units accepted since 2024. A practical checklist is in the guide on the 2026 UAE Golden Visa: mortgages and off-plan now qualify at the AED 2 million threshold.
- Don't conflate the contractor and the developer. On the handover board you will see Nakheel and Dubai Holding Real Estate — the developer legal entity. Metac is the construction contractor and carries its own licence and on-site responsibility. When resolving snagging or workmanship items, part of the accountability sits with Nakheel as developer, part with Metac as main works contractor, and part with the MEP subcontractors, which are usually procured under separate contracts.
What to watch next
Points to track through 2026–2028: the concrete-and-facade programme on phases 1 and 3 (published on the Nakheel project page); the announcement of a contractor and schedule for phases 2 and 4 (617 homes); and the status of common Marina District infrastructure on Island B — waterfront, retail and pedestrian links to adjacent islands in the cluster. We will follow the official Nakheel and Dubai Holding Real Estate updates and add to this piece as they land.
