The Emirates are gearing up for the opening of FerrariWorld in Abu Dhabi, but they won't have the monopoly for long, it seems. Union Properties, a real estate development company based in nearby Dubai, has secured the rights from Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management to construct a series of F1 theme parks around the world.
Wait a second, a series? Not just one? That's right. Union Properties is thinking big, and spending big. The first will be built in Dubai, with construction set to begin soon with a targeted opening date in 2009... right around the same time as FerrariWorld is set to open its doors. The company anticipates signing a deal for the second park some time this year, likely to be constructed somewhere in Europe. A third park in the Far East would be the next location, but Union Properties would be wise to take things one step at a time and take a page out of the Disney playbook. Disney's theme parks steadily grew in size and number over the span of decades, and while parks in Anaheim, Orlando and Tokyo might be raking in the dough (or is that the Dow?), EuroDisney was not quite the runaway success they'd hoped for.
One thing's for sure, Union isn't cheaping out on the cost. The Dubai park is budgeted for $360 million, and the company is borrowing $1.6 billion to build 'em all. This should be interesting.
[Source: GrandPrix.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff Banks @ Feb 28th 2007 8:26PM
I can see Jeff Gordoland in the near future.
Agent @ Mar 1st 2007 12:52AM
COOL! Some of the jerks from the ViperAlley will love to hear about this!
bland moves @ Mar 1st 2007 12:59AM
So can you drive F1 cars here, or is it all BS? (well, some sort of real racing car on a track)
The article is a bit light.
Arthur @ Mar 1st 2007 1:56AM
looks like they hired the designers of the Montreal Olympic stadium. i hope they didn't hire their financial planners aswell
JC3 @ Mar 1st 2007 1:08PM
How do they plan to recoup their investment and actually make it profitable?What's the business case for this? Sounds to me like oil money and ego.