Al Jalila Foundation plans Dubai housing development to fund medical research

Al Jalila Foundation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based global charity and philanthropy organization, announced it is developing a housing endowment worth more that $8.7 million to generate revenue to fund biomedical research.

Al Jalila is dedicated to transforming people’s lives through better medical education and research, and it will use the new six-story residential building to fund those projects.

The building, dubbed the Al Warqa’a Endowment, is expected to generate a 12-percent return to support local research into some of the UAE's most pressing health problems.

Dr. Abdulkareem Al Olama, CEO of the Al Jalila Foundation, said the organization has been continuously highlighting the critical need for local research in the area since the foundation was set up two years ago.

That research, Al Olama said, is needed to improve lives and health. The foundation is continually looking for innovative financial models to support that vision.

“World-class medical care depends on vital medical research and requires significant financial support over the long-term,” Al Olama said. “Al Warqa’a Endowment will provide Al Jalila Foundation with a sustainable income, whilst giving donors the opportunity to contribute to a national philanthropic project to support the advancement of health in the UAE.”

The building is named after the Al Warqa’a area in Dubai and will be built on land granted by the emirate’s government. Construction is expected to begin in December of this year, with the project expected to be completed in March 2017.

Al Warqa’a will have sixty one and two-bedroom apartments and will house a number of retail outlets and amenities on the ground floor.