Aldar Properties, the Abu Dhabi-based developer, has appointed a new chief development officer to replace the departed Gurjit Singh.

Talal Al Dhiyebi, currently executive director of Asset Management, will take over the role of chief development officer effective immediately. Talal will continue to remain in charge of Asset Management and will report directly to the CEO, Aldar said in a statement.

“Since joining the company Talal has been a driving force behind a number of Aldar’s key developments, including Yas Mall which launched in November 2014. We have a strong development pipeline and under Talal’s leadership, we will bring a number of these to market in 2015,” added Mohammed Al Mubarak, chief executive officer of Aldar.

Earlier this month, Gurjit Singh announced that he was stepping down from his role at Aldar, citing a desire to ‘pursue other interests’.

Al Mubarak thanked Singh for his contributions to the property developer, highlighting the role he played in developing Aldar’s retail, residential and commercial offerings.

“Under his leadership, we have launched a number of prime developments across the retail, residential and commercial sector that have played a transformative role in the development of Abu Dhabi,” he said.

The news of Gurjit Singh’s departure comes on the heels of Aldar announcing net profits of $195.47m in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 77% rise on the same period the year earlier.

Aldar said last week that it has “the potential to launch 7,300 units across our existing destinations over the next 4 to 5 years.”