The changes buyers must agree upon are to hand over voting rights on the homeowners association to the developer, allow the developer to take over the unit if the buyer “defaults under any of its obligations”, and give Select the ability to transfer sale contracts to third parties.

275 of the buyers have received the same amendments, which applies to units purchased under a long-term payment plan. James Rooney, a UK citizen who bought an apartment in The Torch told The National:

“What they are trying to do is force us into signing away our control”

Select said the changes were necessary to securitise the debt from these long-term plans, but the buyers are not willing to give up without a fight. Rooney added that an investor group had been formed in London and that the 25 group members together has sought legal advice.

The Torch

The Torch is located in Dubai Marina and is the tallest residential tower in the world, reaching 345 metres above the ground and housing 676 apartments. About 600 of those apartments were sold during Dubai’s property boom between 2005 and 2008.

Commenting on the handover, Mohammed Nimer, CEO of MAG Group Property Development, said: “We have maintained a consistent vision, communicating transparently. We have stood by our strategy through thick and thin which has underscored our commitment to our customers and our confidence in delivering our promise.”

Almost 90% of MAG 218 tower was sold out within months of its 2006 launch, with many investors initially paying an average of AED750,000 – 850,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Today, despite falling prices over the past two years, the apartments have still appreciated, on average by at least 10%. Indeed competitive rental returns can be achieved due to the realistic original selling price.

Due to MAG Group’s strategic pricing, more than 70% of the owners are end users clearly keeping speculators at bay. The typical profile of residents consists of young professionals in their early thirties and to date MAG Group has not received any cancellations whatsoever.

“So far we have not received any notices’ of cancellation, which in the current climate is quite remarkable. However it does highlight the sustainable demand for quality mid-priced accommodation,” said Nimer.

In terms of service fees, again through MAGme the property management arm of MAG Group, rates are very competitive at less than AED10 per square foot per annum.

“This which compares favourably with other developments in the vicinity,” said Nimer.

Full-floor show-apartments located on the first floor of the MAG 218 Tower were opened in June 2008, so that owners could check out the quality of the interior finish, plus other interior fittings such as lights, built-in kitchen units & white goods, wardrobes and bathroom fixtures.

“Frequent online photo-updates were also posted on to the MAG Group website to further reassure overseas investors,” added Nimer.

The tower, which comprises 333 one-bedroom apartments and 222 two-bedroom apartments and six retail outlets, comes complete with 572 covered car parking spaces and an outdoor Olympic sized swimming pool. The top five floors feature a full glass exterior, which afford spectacular panoramic views of the Marina, Palm Jumeirah and beyond.

A dedicated recreational facilities and community floor houses a state-of-the-art gym, event and dining hall, TV room and an outdoor terrace.

The residential tower is strategically located close to all of the facilities in Dubai Marina and only five minutes’ walk from Dubai’s Internet City and Media City. The tower also forms an integral part of MAG Group’s development strategy to construct competitively priced buildings aimed at the mid-range market and appealing to Dubai’s middle income families.

Imre Solt

Arzanah, Capitala’s flagship project, is a 1.4 million square metre development encompassing residential, retail, commercial, sports and leisure components. Strategically located in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque District on Abu Dhabi Island, Arzanah will offer a unique active urban lifestyle for both residents and the community at large.
Situated on the north eastern corner of Arzanah on 38,000 square metres of prime land, Rihan Heights includes five luxurious residential towers with a total of 854 apartments and 14 stunning villas on the site’s perimeter. The buildings are surrounded by luxuriant gardens and offer a range of recreational features including swimming pool, children’s playground, gym and fitness suite, clubhouse and state of the art security and management systems.

Construction on Rihan Heights, which began in late 2008, is well underway. The 20th storey of the tallest tower, which when complete will consist of 32 storeys, is expected to be completed by end of April and the facades for all five towers to be in place by late Q4 this year.

Carlos Obeid, Chairman of Capitala, said,

“Today there are 2000 construction workers on Rihan Heights site and this number will increase to 2500 in the next quarter, a fivefold increase within a single year. We are pleased with the construction progress so far and we are now focussing all our efforts to complete and deliver these premium finished residences.”

He added,

“We have also recently completed Rihan Heights show homes on the 1st floor of tower B and invite all our existing investors and potential customers to visit them. The show homes, which include the two and three-bedroom apartments, showcase the layout, finishes and expected quality for this premium residential development. They also highlight the unobstructed views onto the pristine beachfront and the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.”

The project consists of four 22-storeys residential towers with 684 units in all.

The project is intended for middle-income professionals and will be located at the entry to Reem Island about 300 metres from Abu Dhabi Island.

The development spans a built-up area of 156,800 square metres and consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and eight exclusive water villas.

The waterfront Carina Views towers will be designed for middle-income professionals.

Khaleel I Al Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer at NREC, said:

“Even with the economic crisis, accommodation requirements still need to be addressed in Abu Dhabi. We decided to enter the market and target mid-income professionals to fill a gap that was very much there. We are confident in Abu Dhabi and the UAE and Carina Views is the first of many UAE projects we are embarking on.”

NREC owns and manages properties and assets throughout Kuwait, the Middle East and North Africa. Carina Views is NREC’s flagship development for Abu Dhabi and situated on the master development of Al Reem Island- Najmat, Abu Dhabi.

NREC is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since 1984. Founded with a capital of KWD5 million (Dh63.6m), NREC has assets and capital now exceeding KD589m and KD81m.

Based in Kuwait, NREC houses subsidiaries, entities and developments that are spread throughout the region, including UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Djibouti and Libya.

Prices

According to a sales manager of Carina Views, the prices of Tower 1 are as follows:

1st floor AED 1,169/ft2 – District View – upto 7th floor AED 1,198/ft2
1st floor AED 1,230/ft2 – Full Reem View upto 7th floor AED 1,261/ft2
1st floor AED 1,279/ft2 – Ful Sea View – upto 7th floor AED 1,311/ft2

4 out of 8 Water Villas
From AED 10,500,000 (6,372 ft2) – AED 11,312,000 (6,867 ft2) incl. garden.

Payment plan
5% on signing Reservation Agreement
5% 3 months after signing RA
5% Construction milestone A (after 6 months)
10% Construction milestone B (after 12 months)
75% Final Payment – on completion

Emirates Business

Dubai Courts have now decided the agreement between Oakley and ACI for one of the units is void because the unit was never registered with the Dubai Land Department. ACI was ordered to pay back his Dh569,585 plus a 5 per cent interest rate from the day he started the court proceedings. The other unit was registered with the Land Department and was therefore protected by the law, but Mr. Oakley said he would continue the fight to claim back his remaining Dh695,000.

“It’s like throwing good money after bad, but having two units makes it worthwhile,” he said.

Mr. Oakley’s investment for the other unit remains in an escrow account, and cannot, according to the law, be paid back unless the project is officially cancelled by Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory (RERA). This law also states that the money must be used to fund construction, but this also means, according to some lawyers, that developers might not have the money to refund investments if court orders are issued.

Ivory Towers was initially sold as an off-plan project in 2006 and scheduled to be finished by mid-summer 2008. More than 700 customers bought units in the project but construction came to a halt in an early phase when Sokook, the developer, got in a dispute over the land with TECOM Investments, the master developer of IMPZ.

From there, the problems piled up and Nigel Collins, an investor from the UK who bought four apartments in Ivory Tower in 2006, told The National many of the investors had given up the fight.

Sokook’s web site and offices are nearly shut down, but a consultant from Homes Real Estate, who is working on behalf of Sokook, said a “feasibility report” is to be made to summarize which investors have paid their 30 per cent and who have not.

“For people who have paid more than 30 per cent, their money is in safe hands because they won’t pay any more until we start construction again; for those who have paid less but don’t want to pay any more, we will forfeit them. Our construction is on hold because of the people who only paid 10 or 15 per cent.”

The aim of the report is, according to the consultant, to find out how many investors are willing to go on with the project. If half the number of initial buyers are interested in continuing, the consultant said the project would be scaled down to half its size. An option would be to transfer their investments to other projects in Dubai that were either completed or close to completion, but as the consultant pointed out, Ivory Tower is Sokook’s only project in Dubai.

“If there is no trust left in the project, then we can talk with the customer and swap their investment to a developer who is more advanced” he said without commenting on which developers Sokook had been in talks with.

Rose Tower was originally to be 380 metres high, but a design modification reduced its height by 47 metres. It is still considered world’s tallest hotel, as Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang (330 m at the moment), North Korea, has yet to be completed.

Construction works began in 2004 and even though Rose Tower was completed in 2007, it has yet to open. According to Rotana, the tower will open within 2009 and those interested may contact Rotana directly.

Contact

Rose Rotana, P.O. Box: 30880, Dubai, UAE

T: +971 (0)4 705 4508
F: +971 (0)4 705 4277
E-mail: sales.dubai@rotana.com

Click image for large view

We announced yesterday that Nakheel had revealed their plans for a 1km high tower. As Cityscape Dubai 2008 has officially opened, Nakheel has revealed more information about their tower:

• 200 stories high
• Will contain more than 150 elevators
• 19 000 apartments
• 3 5000 hotel rooms
• 100 luxury suites located on the upper floors
• Expected to be finished within 2020
• Total cost: Dh140bn (USD $38.12bn)

Mr. Maher Al Aujan, Managing Director of Rani International Development LLC says, “We are very excited with the award of the Oberoi Centre main construction works contract. We have engaged world class design team on this distinguished development and it will be very exciting and fullfiling to see it off the ground. The construction works will take 24 months and we are confident that Al Naboodah Contracting LLC will deliver our vision for this project as we have planned it.

Mr. Maher Al Aujan adds “We have award-winning professional firms working closely together to ensure this project in Business Bay is completed and delivered to the satisfaction of our clients.

Tastefully designed by renowned consultancy firm Agostine & Rafael to depict the rich culture and heritage of Lebanon, Beirut Towers will consist of two towers – Ashrafieh and Verdun. Aiming to offer customers the ultimate lifestyle and leisure experience, the Towers will consist of over 23 floors each. Every floor will be named after a famous street in Verdun and Ashrafieh, two of Beirut’s most prestigious residential neighborhoods, teeming with vibrant shopping areas and high-tech business centers.. Floor names in the Verdun Tower will include Verdun 730, Verdun 732, Bristol, Dunes, Ain Tine and Koraytem. Floor names in the Ashrafieh Tower will include Sodeco, Sursok, Monot, Sahet Sassine and Abdl Wahab.

Influenced by a unique architectural style reminiscent of Lebanon, the Towers will feature a wide range of studio, one and two bedroom apartments on single or duplex floors. Plus Properties will provide an array of financing options and the use of escrow accounts to potential tenants. The Towers promise to offer its customers a plush lifestyle and a host of unparalleled services and amenities.

The Beirut Towers will be located in the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ) in the heart of downtown Dubai. IMPZ seeks to create a unique cluster environment for media production companies from across the industry value chain, and from across the world, to interact and collaborate effectively. IMPZ will provide an environment of growth by building key facilities, investing in infrastructure, and forming a unique free zone that incorporates industrial, commercial, residential and community service projects under its mantle. The vast complex will be housed on a territory of over 43 million square feet of land. TECOM is the master developer of IMPZ.

IMPZ’s proximity to major road networks such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Emirates Road and Al Khail Road and other landmarks such Dubai Media City, Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai Sports City, Mall of the Emirates and the upcoming Al Maktoum International Airport will also constitute a major strategic advantage to tenants.

“We are committed to developing quality living and leisure concepts with high business potential at our carefully chosen properties across the region. The keen interest we’ve received for our projects epitomizes the recognition of our broader vision for a distinct lifestyle and creation of elite business and residential environments”, said Georges Chehwane, CEO of Plus Properties.

We envisioned the Beirut Towers as a project evocative of Lebanon and are confident that our latest offering will succeed in providing many residents of Dubai especially Lebanese nationals, with a taste of Beirut,” Chehwane concluded.

Beirut Towers received an overwhelming response from regional and international investors at an open house sales launch event held on 1st July 2008 at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel – Dubai.