An interview with Dene Murphy, CEO of Mirage Leisure And Development, Gerald Lawless, and founder of KCA International, Khuan Chew In 2000, His highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Earmarked a piece of land on the coast beside Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel in the Jumeirah neighbourhood of Dubai for development. Occupied at the time by Chicago Beach Village, just four years later it would become one of the world’s most iconic resorts, Madinat Jumeirah. This month marks the 10th anniversary of Madinat Jumeirah’s official opening in October 2004. Here CEO of Mirage Leisure And Development, Dene Murphy, President and Group CEO of Jumeirah Group, Gerald Lawless, and founder of KCA International, Khuan Chew, recall one of the biggest projects of their careers. Following a chance meeting with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Dene Murphy’s Mirage Mille Leisure And Development (as it was at the time) was chosen as Development Manager for the building of Dubai’s One & Only Royal Mirage resort. At the dawn of the new millennium, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed had a much bigger project in mind for the company’s CEO. THE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Dene Murphy, CEO of Mirage Leisure And Development How did you get involved in the Madinat Jumeirah project? Somewhat out of the blue, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum requested that we put some ideas together for a development on the Chicago Beach site in Jumeirah, Dubai. I called one of my guys, and I said, ‘I want you to get hold of Eduardo Robles and Thanu Boonyawatana [founders of architectural firm Creative Kingdom] – I need them in Dubai on this date.’ I went home, packed my suitcase, jumped on a plane and came to Dubai, and met the guys here. Then we met with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed and [President and Group CEO, Jumeirah Group] Gerald Lawless, and had a conversation about the project that would become Madinat Jumeirah.  You were briefed about the project at that meeting. What was the brief? The original brief was for a 600 room resort. Dubai was almost a bit shy about its heritage at the time; there were all these glass buildings going up. The brief demanded that we ask: how can we take the history, the heritage of Dubai and convert it into something that is for today – something that the tourists will come to Dubai and talk about? Gerald suggested that I take my team down to the old Bastakiya neighbourhood [Dubai’s heritage area] and give some thought to what we might do. So I went down there with the two guys from Creative Kingdom. We were walking along the Creek, and we looked at each other, and Eduardo said to me, ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ And I said, ‘I’m thinking exactly what you’re thinking. There’s some inspiration in this’.  What was that original light bulb moment?I said, ‘Look, we’ve got to bring some water into this thing.’ Then you start to apply minds to what the composition would be, the layout of the resort. We could work off the trading, we could work off the historical aspects of Dubai, we could work off the abras, the transportation around the site, etc. So you had your idea.  When did you present it to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed?We were in Dubai for a couple of days, and we did some sketches on tracing paper. I remember sitting down with Gerald first, and then I was invited to meet H.H. Sheikh Ahmed. I had these plans, and I was trying to explain to him what we planned to do, and to figure out if everybody was excited about our ideas. His Highness said to go away and work on producing some more detailed ideas.  So you went away and prepared the pitch, and then you came back to Dubai?Yes. We came back and we met with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed and Gerald and on the 15th floor of Burj Al Arab; they’ve got a little boardroom on the corner there. I did a presentation, and everybody, including His Highness, was pretty excited about what we were proposing. Forty-five minutes later UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum arrived with a group of people – many of them leading developers at that time. I had never met H.H. Sheikh Mohammed before, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness me, we’ve only got one shot at this now, His Highness is either going to hate it or love it.’  I did a presentation for H.H. Sheikh Mohammed, and there were a number of questions, and I’ll never forget him saying to me, ‘This water – what is it? Is it fresh water? Is it sea water?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know what it is yet.’ And he said, ‘Well, the next time I see you, you had better tell me what it is.’ Which of course we did. It was a very tense time for us, because this development was about to become a major milestone in the lives of our little business.  That evening I received a phone call saying that H.H. Sheikh Mohammed had approved the project. When I got the phone call, I must confess, I was a bit emotional about it, and I thought, ‘Boy oh boy we’re going to have to perform’.  This was 2001. HH Sheikh Mohammed wanted Mina A’ Salam finished in time for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in 2003, didn’t he?We’d indicated something on the plan [where Chicago Beach was located], and during the course of a presentation, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed asked me what it was. I said that we’d like to eventually link everything together with Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Wild Wadi Waterpark, and that we were just suggesting what could be done in the future.  He said to me, ‘How quickly can you build this?’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know, we

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DURBAN – THE international architects behind Durban’s R7.5 billion film studio touched down this week as plans for the studio become closer to being realised. The studio, which is earmarked for the old Natal Command Site, is the project of producer Anant Singh. eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza and deputy city manager for economic development and tourism, Phillip Sithole, the architects, Thanu Boonyawatana and Eduardo Robles, and Singh did a walkabout at the site on Wednesday. The process for Singh to realise his dream has not been an easy one. He first negotiated a deal with the city in 2003 to buy the land for R15 million. The provincial government gave him the go-ahead at the time. However, his plans were scuppered by Pietermaritzburg businessman Sunny Gayadin, who challenged Singh’s purchase agreement with a court action. Gayadin died in May. Artists impression of Durban’s multi-billion rand film studio. He had claimed Singh’s deal with the city was not legitimate and he maintained that he was prepared to pay R250m for the site. Gayadin took the matter as far as the Pietermaritzburg High Court, but lost subsequent fights in the Supreme and Constitutional Courts in 2012. The official artist’s impressions of what Durban Film City will look like were released exclusively to the Sunday Tribune on Friday and are being published for the first time. The command site will be turned into a “world-class” mixed-use facility and two major hotel groups have already shown interest in the development. There is potential for a four or five-star hotel being built as part of the project. The architects behind Durban Film City are world renowned duo Robles and Boonyawatana, both of Creative Kingdom Architects. Artists impression of Durban’s multi-billion rand film studio. They were responsible for famous buildings such as the Palace of the Lost City, the Palm Islands in Dubai, the first Ferrari Hotel in Spain, and the Pearls of uMhlanga, also owned by Singh. Singh said the project was a “dream come true”. “It has been a long wait. The Mandela movie took 20 years to reach fruition and this taught me that patience eventually pays off. “Yes, this film studio took ages to reach realisation but it is finally happening and once it’s ready, it is going to be amazing for Durban and for South Africa,” said Singh. He said two international feature films and a local television series have already been bagged to be shot at Durban Film City, even before it is built. “Construction is expected to start early next year and we plan to have it functional by mid 2018. “I believe we can work on this quite swiftly and it’s going to result in enormous job opportunities for the city. The rest of the process will be handled with architects electronically,” said Singh. Singh said his vision for the Durban Film City was in line with building a creative hub for the province. “We’ve had great talent coming out of KZN and I want Film City to become a hub that will continue to nurture our talent. “It’s going to be a space for creative geniuses to enjoy, a space where artists can improve their talents and sell their art as well,” said Singh. Nzuza and Sithole said they were both ecstatic about the opportunities that Film City would create for Durban. They said they had seen how other film studios have been beneficial to other South African cities. Sudhir Pragjee (Videovision Entertainment), Eduardo Robles (Creative Kingdom), Sipho Nzuza (city manager), Anant Singh (Videovision Entertainment), Phillip Sithole (deputy city manager) and Thanu Boonyawatana (Creative Kingdom) were at the site on Wednesday. “The Film City will boost morale in Durban. The fact that it will be housed within a tourism precinct is also great for the province. “It’s going to be wonderful for us because of the investment opportunities and it will boost investor confidence,” said Nzuza. Nzuza said the film studio would produce the best talents and create job opportunities for young people. He said he was proud that in his five months as city manager, he has been able to help conclude the process.

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