Dubai
Brick-and-mortar is not the only way developers in Dubai want to fill up their plots.
In fact, at Sweid & Sweid’s (S&S) new development in Jumeirah Lake Towers, the actual residential component — a ground plus 31-storey tower — only takes up 10 per cent of the 110,000 square feet land.
The rest is being taken up by wellness elements — a spa, for instance — and a lot of trees and plants (10,000 to be precise). A setting well in keeping with the name of the project — “Banyan Tree Residences”.
“These are not furnished or serviced apartments, but branded residences,” said Maher Sweid, Managing Partner at S&S, a boutique developer for whom this is its first residential project in Dubai. Until now it had focused on developing commercial properties such as The Edge in Tecom, which was later sold to ENBD REIT for Dh280 million. There was also a project in Cairo that it sold to Abraaj Capital.
“It’s true we have been focused on income-generating commercial properties until now,” said Sweid. “But we saw an opportunity to do something different with the plot we acquired in JLT more than two years ago and when we later brought on board Banyan Tree (Holdings, a hospitality company headquartered in Singapore.)
“It’s a challenging market right now in Dubai, and if developers are not going to offer competitive advantages to buyers, it’s gonna be very difficult. So, if set aside only 10 per cent for the residential element, it’s done with a purpose. We want to bring in a resort style living to the city.
“We enter a project fully funded and with key backers. We certainly don’t take the approach that if we sell units, something happens on the project.”
It is interesting that Dubai is seeing a handful of hospitality branded residential developments all at the same time. There are the Bulgari residences in Jumeirah, Atlantis has its under development on the Palm, and Raffles recently confirmed its second property in Dubai, this one too being on the Palm.
The Banyan Tree Residences has prices starting from Dh1.45 million for a one-bedroom and four-bed units from Dh8 million. There were also two penthouses, that have already been sold, for “between Dh15 million to Dh20 million”. The average price is Dh1,900-Dh2,000 a square foot.
“The intention is to retain 50 per cent of the units until handover and to use completion to derive benefits,” said Sweid, who expects to generate Dh640 million in project sales value. Completion is scheduled within the next 18 months.
Apart from this, there are plans to launch two new projects before the year-end. “Gone are the days when a developer could buy a plot and announce a tower for it to sell,” he added. “These days, each developer needs to go through a stringent process to bring in unique components to it. Anything less than that will be a tough sell.”
