A view of Dubai downtown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on November 21, 2022. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Who says you cannot reach for the moon?
A proposed $5 billion real estate project wants to take skyscraper-studded Dubai to new heights — by bringing a symbol of the heavens down to Earth.Canadian entrepreneur Michael Henderson envisions building a 274-meter (900-foot) replica of the moon atop a 30-meter (100-foot) building in Dubai, already home to the world's tallest building and other architectural wonders.Henderson's project, dubbed MOON, may sound out of this world, but it could easily fit in this futuristic city-state.
Dubai already has a red-hot real estate market, fueled by the wealthy who fled restrictions imposed in their home countries during the coronavirus pandemic and Russians seeking refuge amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.And even though a previous booms-and-bust cycle saw many grand projects collapse, Henderson and others suggest his vision, funded by Moon World Resorts Inc., where he is the co-founder, might not be that far-fetched."We have the biggest ‘brand’ in the world," Henderson told The Associated Press, alluding that the moon itself — the heavenly body — was his brand. "Eight billion people know our brand, and we haven’t even started yet."The project Henderson proposes includes a destination resort inside the spherical structure, complete with a 4,000-room hotel, an arena capable of hosting 10,000 people and a "lunar colony" that would give guests the sensation of actually walking on the moon.The MOON would sit on a pedestal-like circular building beneath it and would glow at night.