Dubai Sports City (DSC), a 50-million-sq-ft mixed-use development, will this week start handing over apartments within its flagship development – Canal Residence West’s Venetian.

The world’s first integrated purpose-built sports city, DSC is being built around five major sports venues and features a series of major sports academy facilities, said a statement from the company.

The DSC move comes following the successful completion of the first phase of hand-overs involving Canal Residence West’s European and Mediterranean buildings and it further builds on the population at the development where an extra 5,000 residents are expected to move in over the next 12 months.

The 274 Venetian units include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and are finished to an extremely high standard as well as offering numerous amenities including a swimming pool, gymnasium and sauna facility, it stated.

DSC president Khalid Al Zarooni said the occasion exemplifies the way the world’s first integrated sports city was continuing to move forward at a rapid pace. "The handover of apartments within the Venetian building of Canal Residence West is an extremely proud, pleasing and exciting occasion for everyone at Dubai Sports City," he stated.

During the course of the summer the Canal Promenade retail outlets will be completed, as well as a health centre and restaurants, further enhancing the environment for residents, said Al Zarooni.

"Each apartment in Canal Residence West comes with the superb benefits of living within DSC. Those benefits include the fact that residents have a superb community lifestyle, with The Els Club - including its championship golf course and multiple dining options - on their doorstep, together with a range of nurseries and schools that cater for all ages," he added.

Chief financial officer Vijay Sajjanhar commented: "Those lucky enough to live at Canal Residence West are just a stone’s throw away from the ICC Academy, the Dubai Sports City Football Academy, the Sports Village and Fit Republik, a premier fitness facility in the region, which includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool and gymnastics area."

Also moving forward at great pace is the Fortuna Village development, the eighth residential area within Victory Heights, the villa community that fringes The Els Club, and that development is on target for completion early next year, noted Sajjanhar.

The DSC Football Zone, featuring Kickers Sports Bar and Champs Restaurant, is overseen by former Real Madrid and Spain legend Michel Salgado, and includes the Spanish Soccer Schools coaching programme that won the Gold award for Best Youth Development Programme at the Sports Industry Awards in Dubai in March.

“With a fantastic road and transport infrastructure around our location, situated on the Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road corridor, and just minutes from the Al Maktoum International Airport and the site of Expo 2020, Dubai Sports City really is the place to be,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service