Burj Dubai

The world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai, is set to open on Monday, as part of an effort by the sheikdom to get past a recent corporate crisis and strengthen its reputation and attraction as a regional and worldwide hub for business.

Burj Dubai, anchoring a $20 billion development, is set to open amid a gala of fireworks and a curtain of tight security, The Wall Street Journal reported. The opening coincides with the fourth anniversary of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 60, coming to power in Dubai.

The building, with more than 160 floors, is said to stand more than 2,625 feet (800 meters) high but the developer, Emaar Properties, has not yet said how tall the final structure is, media reports say.

The No. 2 office building in the world: Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which is more than 500 meters high. Burj Dubai is also the world’s tallest structure, exceeding the height of a TV tower in North Dakota, and tallest free-standing structure, taller than the CN Tower in Toronto.

The Website says the building will have 900 residences on floors 19 through 108. The observation deck is on Floor 124. Sky lobbies on Floors 43, 76 and 123 will have fitness facilities, swimming pools and Jacuzzis. It has a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani.

A dynamic blend of residences, retail outlets, and offices, Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) is the next generation of real estate Dubai. Located just off Sheikh Zayed Road between interchanges 5 and 6, Jumeirah Lake Towers consists of 69 unique towers grouped together into 23 clusters. With a 55-storey central hotel tower, the community offers sheer beauty in the name of manicured gardens all around.

There is a gold and diamond centre and a sparkling lake with an island as well. For everyday necessities and fine dining, retail shops and restaurants are within easy reach, along with the Gardens Shopping Mall. Jumeirah Lake Towers is home to world-class entertainment and leisure activities. It is quite near to world-renowned landmark The Palm.

Jumeirah Lake Towers is one of the foremost real estate developments in Dubai

One key thing to note is that so far the growth of Dubai has been consistently defying all analysts. Since the past 5 years all sorts of experts have been saying that it is about time the Real Estate market in Dubai stopped being so profitable but so far the bubble has not burst. Though such growth has never been sustainable before no one is able to explain why it continues to thrive in Dubai. The GCC has the 17th largest economy in the world comprising of 500,000 high income earners and a GDP of $525 billion. The total ½ trillion dollar economy creates more than $500 billion in revenue that is used for investment. This volume is believed to boost the Real Estate and construction sector in Dubai.

With a growth rate of 25% per year the UAE GDP is expected to reach anywhere from Dh 500-900 billion by the year 2010. The UAE has already surpassed Egypt as the 2nd largest economy in the Arab countries. It is now second to Saudi Arabia which is going through its own explosive growth period. The projects in UAE total at around $225 billion with Dubai holding nearly $125 billion.

The population of Dubai is also expected to go from the current 1.1 million to 4 million by the year 2017 and by 2020 it may exceed 5 million. This growth is expected to put a great strain on the infrastructure. The government has already spent $2.5 working on the road network covering 9,600 kilometers.

Dubai has always been the most popular place to buy investment property in the UAE because of its visitor friendly policies. There are many investment opportunities available to people in Dubai. In the past 2 years other emirates have also noticed the profitability from Real Estate development and they are also beginning to contribute to the growth of the region.

Because of the heavy investment in the tourism, infrastructure has further encouraged the growth of the Real Estate market. The increase in the Abu Dhabi population has increased the cost of rentals there. In fact, Abu Dhabi has all the potential requirements for avoiding the issues that are threatening to hinder the growth of Real Estate market in Dubai. These issues include shortage of man power and large scale construction projects that take too long to complete.

Teema will have 308 town houses and will be by a retail facility and a community centre. Sales will begin from May 20, just seven months into announcing the multi-billion joint venture. The residential community will have pedestrian areas and master-planned infrastructure apart from a retail centre, mosque and school.

Within its development, Teema will have green landscape and walkways, in close access to several community amenities. Teema homes comprise a mix of duplexes and two- and three- bedroom villas. The homes have all been fitted with elegant Spanish architectural features with the apartments having a built-area in the region 1,780 to 2,800 sqft. Construction on the project will begin shortly.

Arif Mubarak, CEO of Bawadi, said: “Teema is the first of the homes to be developed within Asmaran, which will eventually have more than 55,000 residents and 19,000 homes. Teema town houses mark the starting point of community living within Asmaran, and home owners can look forward to a distinctive lifestyle rich in leisure and entertainment amenities.”

Naaman Atallah, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Bawadi, said: “Teema is located in close proximity to commercial and leisure facilities, and will be an ideal place to live and work. With Teema, Emaar Bawadi is developing an integrated residential community featuring extensive day-and-night leisure and entertainment facilities. It assures residents the dual benefits of accessing the leisure amenities within Bawadi while living in a quiet and elegantly planned neighbourhood.”

When completed, Asmaran will have a family-oriented theme park with a wide range of attractions; four million sqft of commercial space; a mall with gross leasable area of three million sqft and several retailers; more than 5,300 serviced apartments, and nine world-class hotels with more than 5,150 keys. Interconnectivity among its various components is a highlight of Asmaran, which is located in close proximity to the largest hotel in the world with 6,500-keys.

Project engineers say the Dh400 million Time Residences tower in the City of Arabia master development will turn through 360 degrees, its rotation mechanism driven by stored solar energy.

The project, which will put 200 apartments onto the market, is another addition to Dubai’s list of world exclusives which will include the world’s tallest tower, biggest mall and largest man-made island – even a collection of dozens of man-made islands dubbed The World.

In July, Dubai-based High Rise Real estate launched the Rotating Tower, a Dh175 million project in Jumeirah Village South featuring four rotating penthouses and a rotating villa with its own car lift.

Dubai Property Ring, developer of the 30-floor Time Residences, says it has gone one step better by launching a fully rotating structure.

“We didn’t want to build just another building or tower, we wanted to create something unique – a precious place to live – a genuine contender to be one of the great buildings in the world,” said Tav Singh, director of Dubai Property Ring, the Dubai arm of UK-based property investors UK Property Group.

Singh said the company plans to build 23 more rotating towers in each of the world’s time zones with finance provided by investors linked to the company.

The Time Residences tower will include one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as duplexes and penthouses. Singh said unit prices have not been released, but sales are expected to start in March 2007. Buyers’ payments will be held in an account managed by Dubai Property Ring and Colliers International, master agents for the project.

The project is the company’s first foray into property development, forcing it to take on the services of established names in their respective fields.

The tower was designed by UK architecture firm, Glenn Howells Architects (the company behind the Birmingham Rotunda in the UK) and Palmer and Turner, the master developers of City of Arabia.

“A distinctive time line runs down the building that meets 12 o’clock markings on the ground and the podium, allowing observers to use the building as a fully functioning time piece – it’s unique, it’s ambitious and it’s an honour to be involved from the start,” said James Abbott, senior architect at Palmer and Turner.

Dubai’s Kulkarni QS will manage the project, while the task of rotating an 80,000 tonne tower through 360 degrees over a seven day period has been handed to Nick Cooper, managing director of Bennett Associates, the British engineer who designed the drill machine that bored the English Channel Tunnel.

Cooper said state of the art bearing systems at several points in the tower will allow a power plant to rotate the base of the tower at 5mm per second using only 21 electic kettles’ worth of solar power.

Construction is expected to start in June next year with projected completion in the first quarter of 2009.

The project will also be showcased at this year’s Cityscape from December 4-6 at the Colliers International stand.

The Waterfront is being developed by the world’s largest privately help property developer Nakheel. Upon completion, Dubai Waterfront will add about 70 kilometres to the coastline of the emirate. The property development will have more than 1.4 billion square feet of land and water developments which is twice the size of Hong Kong!

Dubai offers some of the best duty-free shopping in the world. Its championship golf courses, superb water sports, sandy beaches, sophisticated hotels, bustling souqs where travellers and locals can bargain for gold, carpets and fine handicrafts, all combine to make it an exciting city to buy real estate in.