Nakheel has signed a contract valued at more than Dh2 billion ($544 million) with Al Jaber Group for the construction of 740 luxury villas in Veneto, an exclusive residential district in the Waterfront project in Dubai.

Veneto has been masterplanned to create an exclusive waterside neighbourhood on the fringe of Waterfront City, the urban heart of the metropolis. Construction of the first stage of Veneto is expected to begin this month, with the handover of the initial villas anticipated in the second half of 2009. In total, Veneto will comprise 1,400 villas and townhouses and 1,200 low-rise apartments and will eventually be home to a population of 14,000.