Dubai's Emaar Properties plans to fund development of a golf course district in the south of the emirate with a little equity, a little debt and off-plan sales, Emaar chairman Mohammed Alabbar said on Monday.

The district, with an area of nearly 7 square kilometres (2.7 square miles) and located near Al Maktoum International Airport, is to include over 15,000 homes, an 18-hole golf course, three- and four-star hotels, shops and schools.

The first phase of the project, owned 50 percent by Emaar and 50 percent by Dubai Aviation City Corp, will take four years to build, Alabbar told reporters.

He declined to give a cost estimate for the project but asked whether Emaar might issue bonds to finance it, said that while the company had a good cash position and wanted to be conservative on debt, it would take advantage of current low interest rates.

"The interest rate is so sweet," he said.