Emaar Properties said it had agreed to develop a Dh60 billion ($16.34 billion) project in partnership with a firm owned by Dubai's ruler.

Emaar will invest Dh3.85 billion in the project while its partner, Bawadi, will contribute 70 million sq feet (6.503 million sq m) of land in Dubai, the two developers said in a statement. Bawadi is owned by Dubai Holding.

In August Emaar ended an attempt to acquire government land in Dubai in exchange for stock after investors drove its shares to a 28-month low because they were kept in the dark about the details.

Emaar had planned to pay for the land by giving Dubai Holding, owned by the emirate's ruler, about $8 billion worth of stock, keeping its expansion on track until foreign projects start making money.

It never revealed the size, location or value of the land. Reuters

Emaar reported its first decline in quarterly profit in at least three years last week, at the bottom end of forecasts after spending more on foreign operations in nations such as Egypt.