Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, was dressed in colours of the Croatian flag. This is how Dubai welcomed Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić, who is visiting the largest city of the United Arab Emirates, reports Večernji List on March 13, 2019.
Bandić is supposed to meet there with Mayor Dawood Abdul Rahman al-Hajiri, and Mohamed Alabbar, owner of Eagle Hills, who will realise the City in the City project in Zagreb, also known as the so-called Zagreb Manhattan. The delegation travelled to Dubai upon receiving an invitation from al-Hajiri.
Bandić posted a photo of the Burj Khalifa in the colours of the Croatian flag on Facebook. “When Dubai is lit in Croatian colours... Greetings to my beloved Zagreb and all of Croatia!” Bandić wrote.
The city authorities opted for Alabbar's offer last week, deciding it was better than the one sent by the concessionaire of Zagreb Airport, which also wanted to develop the area. Although the mayor said that the decision was not final, according to unofficial information he is in Dubai to negotiate and sign a memorandum of interest.
The new project will be developed at a one million square metres area bounded by the Sava river, Većeslav Holjevac Avenue, Dubrovnik Avenue and Cimermanova Street. Mayor Bandić supposedly likes the type of project that Mohamed Alabbar’s Eagle Hills is already developing as part of the Belgrade Waterfront.
There is no detailed information about the Zagreb project, since there are a number of steps which need to be done before the construction can begin, and the main one is amendments to the city urban planning documents. What could be agreed in Dubai is how the partnership between the city authorities and Eagle Hills will work, who will invest how much in the project and how the potential profits will be split. Mohammed Alabbar has already talked with Bandić in Zagreb, and they will now meet again in Dubai.
“Everything we have done in these 19 years pales in comparison with what will happen there”, said the mayor in mid-February talking about the "Zagreb Manhattan". The project is expected to be worth between a billion and a billion and a half kuna and more information should be known in a month to two.
This is just one of Mayor Bandić’s major projects which he has announced during 19 years of his rule, but many of them have never moved beyond the initial phase.
More news about the Zagreb mayor can be found in the Politics section.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Mateja Šobak).
