In September 2026, Emaar Properties announced that the car park at Dubai Square Mall, in Dubai Creek Harbour, will be fully air-conditioned. Billed as the world's first "drive-through mall", it is due to open in 2028.
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In early September 2026, Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall, announced that the Dubai Square Mall car park will be fully air-conditioned and finished with the same decorative care as the mall itself. According to its founder, Mohamed Alabbar, the car park is already under construction. Dubai Square Mall is the heart of Dubai Square, a 2.6 million m² retail, hospitality and office destination in Dubai Creek Harbour, scheduled to open in 2028.
Key points
- In September 2026, Emaar Properties announced that the Dubai Square Mall car park in Dubai Creek Harbour will be fully air-conditioned, a first the developer claims for a major shopping centre.
- Dubai Square is a 2.6 million m² retail, hospitality and office destination, part of Emaar's AED 180 billion Dubai Creek Harbour masterplan.
- In December 2025, Emaar unveiled Dubai Square as the world's first "drive-through mall": electric vehicles will be able to drive inside the site.
- Emaar launched the residential component of Dubai Square in May 2026, and the mall is scheduled to open in 2028.
- The future Dubai Metro Blue Line will serve Dubai Creek Harbour, with a station named Emaar Properties.
A car park designed as part of the mall
The Dubai Square Mall car park will be air-conditioned throughout, with interior finishes, lighting and signage designed as a single environment. Emaar wants the visitor experience to begin the moment you park, not at the mall entrance. Mohamed Alabbar summed it up by saying parking should be comfortable, intuitive and refined, "not an afterthought".
This is more than a comfort detail. In Dubai, where summer heat makes the walk from car to entrance an ordeal, it is a very concrete argument for year-round footfall. It also extends the concept unveiled in December 2025: a mall you can drive through in an electric vehicle, laid out as avenues, squares and pedestrian streets blending indoor and outdoor space.
Dubai Creek Harbour, a new city centre taking shape
Dubai Square will sit at the centre of Dubai Creek Harbour, a creekfront district Emaar is developing across some 11 million m², for a total investment of AED 180 billion. It follows the Downtown Dubai formula: a major mall as the anchor, residential towers around it, hotels and offices, all steered by a single developer.
Transport completes the picture. The future Metro Blue Line will connect the district to the network, with an Emaar Properties station billed as a landmark. For a district still being handed over, the combined arrival of a regional mall and a rail link changes daily life for residents and how tenants see the area. Our benchmarks on prices and projects in the area are in our guide Buying in Dubai Creek Harbour: prices, yields and projects.
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How much the developer shapes a district's value
Emaar has delivered more than 130,900 homes in Dubai and worldwide since 2002, and already operates The Dubai Mall, Dubai Hills Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Souk Al Bahar and The Ranches Souk. That track record in running major malls lends credibility to the Dubai Square timeline. It does not replace project-by-project analysis, though. Before reserving in a launch, we check the delivery schedule and payment plan, along with the protection mechanisms described in our guides on choosing a reliable developer and on the escrow account.
What Dubai Square Mall means for investors
For investors, this announcement confirms that Emaar is concentrating its resources on Dubai Creek Harbour. A regional mall opening in 2028 and a dedicated metro station are two assets that drove rental demand in Downtown Dubai: proximity to shops and jobs, and easy access without a car. Residences closest to Dubai Square and the future station should benefit most. In Dubai, individuals pay no tax on rental income or on property capital gains, so whatever these amenities add to the district's appeal goes entirely to the owner.
Timing matters too. An off-plan purchase made today will be handed over at roughly the same time the mall opens. Mohamed Alabbar himself has mentioned a possible 5 to 10% price adjustment in Dubai as new supply arrives by 2027. We therefore advise choosing the location within the district, the unit type and the payment plan carefully, rather than buying on Dubai Creek Harbour's reputation alone.
Lucretia helps you compare launches in the district, read payment plans and build a strategy suited to your situation. Our market analyses are gathered on our page Invest in Dubai.
Source: timeoutdubai.com — Sept. 2026 (article updated ≈ 18 Sept. 2026)
This article is part of our guide
Dubai Property Investment Guide for Foreign Buyers
About the author
Benoit CLAUDEL
Director of Strategy & Operations
With over 18 years of experience in real estate and wealth management, Benoît has developed recognized expertise in advising private investors, business executives and family offices. After starting out in a real estate agency and working within one of the most reputable wealth management firms in Paris, he then joined LCL as Head of Private Banking for Île-de-France, advising high-income clients on their real estate strategies. An entrepreneur, he founded and ran his own wealth management firm for 7 years, structuring investment and wealth optimization solutions. Today at Lucretia, Benoît oversees operational strategy, sales performance and advisor training. He works on high-value-added cases, particularly investments via French holding companies, legal structuring and wealth taxation.
