DUBAI: Dubai property developer Nakheel is seeking to borrow AED5 billion ($1.4 billion) from banks, sources aware of the matter said, in what would be its first attempt to raise sizeable debts since it almost collapsed at the turn of the decade.

Nakheel, at the center of a debt crisis in Dubai in 2009 after a crash in real estate prices, is in talks with a small group of banks regarding the financing, the sources said, adding talks were at a preliminary stage.

The developer, whose flagship Palm Jumeirah project ranks as the world’s biggest man-made island, has asked banks to provide it with prospective pricing if it borrowed for eight- to 10-year terms, said two of the sources.

The company declined to comment on the loan talks. Nakheel will use the funds for construction projects, one of the sources said.

Nakheel, like many corporations and financial institutions in the Gulf, is looking to tap debt markets as the cost of borrowing in the Gulf is expected to move higher in coming months, due to declining banking sector liquidity and rising US interest rates.