Dubai’s Jumeirah Central project will cost around $20bn to complete – and no deadline has been set for its completion.

The urban mixed-use city district is to be built on the site previously reserved for the Mall of the World, off Sheikh Zayed Road. It will comprise 9m sq ft of retail space (including three shopping centres), 4.5m sq ft of outdoor shopping space and will be supported by more than 44,000 car parking spaces. It is to include 2,800 hotel rooms and 3,000 apartments.

The first phase of the project, announced by Sheikh Mohammed, is estimated to cost $6.5bn. Officials said the project would be given no specific deadline and financing arrangements had not yet been finalised.

The previously planned Mall of the World was announced in mid-2014, just as oil prices began falling sharply. Last week, Dubai Holding said it had decided to relocate Mall of the World, but officials declined to answer questions about the fate of that project.

Real estate prices in Dubai have been dropping since last year and several other residential and retail projects have been suspended or cancelled over the past 12 months.