Dubai: Damac Properties is venturing into a brand new niche with the launch this week of ‘hotel villas’ at its Akoya Oxygen development in Dubailand. The developer already has a sizeable hospitality inventory in its project portfolio, but all of these are within vertical formats.
The hotel villa units will be priced under Dh1,200 a square foot, and will have a starting price of Dh1.75 million for a three-bedroom unit. Completion is scheduled in three years.
On the decision to go horizontal with the latest hospitality launch, Ziad El Char, Managing Director, said: “There is considerable investor appetite for turnkey hotel-type projects which can be their vacation/second homes. The current hospitality component in our books is around 30 per cent and that’s being added to at every opportunity we get.
“With the Nova Hotel Villas, which will be managed in-house by Damac Maison Hotels & Resorts, investors are also getting access to a golf course centred community. That again is a big plus with investors.” The Trump World Golf Club is being designed Tiger Woods.
The property management arm will also take care of hotel villas placed in the rental pool to generate additional income for owners.
“In terms of new projects, there is more that Damac can keep adding at Akoya Oxygen given its expanse (55 million square feet),” said El Chaar. “Overseas investors have a 70 per cent representation of the overall Damac sales portfolio and the mix should remain as such in the future too.”
The developer recorded sales of Dh2 billion plus in the first quarter. Its hospitality development portfolio is at around 13,000 units.
