Dubai: Shaikh Zayed Road is turning it on… and it has got nothing to do with the fast cars zipping down the highway. Property values on the initial stretch are now on a hot streak helped on their way by high net worth investors homing in on the choice location.
Meydan of the racecourse and grandstand fame has opened investor sales for the 100-storey plus Entisar Tower on SZ Road, and prices for the 444 units could be ranging from Dh2,500 a square foot to Dh3,500 for units facing the sea, according to market sources. “It is nothing short of a “vertical city” with its apartments, hotel and retail and that’s reflected in the premium pricing,” said Ranjit Chavan, partner at SPF Realty. “There are the sky-villas but there’s no official word on what their pricing would be — we believe Meydan is now only taking interest.”
At Cityscape Global, Dubai Properties Group also unveiled a mixed-use twin-tower, located advantageously in front of the Business Bay metro terminal. “These too could command north of Dh2,500 a square foot though there has been no official word on the pricing,” said Chavan. “In the midst of Dubai’s latest property boom, Shakh Zayed Road being its heart, is speeding ahead on its steam.”
The DIFC master-development has been an immediate beneficiary, with ready for occupation residential units averaging Dh2,000 a square foot and above. Deyaar’s joint venture high-rise project, Central Park, was launched at a premium Dh1,800 a square foot and that is bound to go up given the current demand pull, Chavan added.
But the stiffest premiums, as of now, are reserved for properties with a Burj Khalifa view or those of the fountain. These attributes have pushed the asking prices to Dh3,000 a square foot and more. The nine-tower Burj Residences cluster would be a beneficiary. (According to market watchers, a two-bedroom unit of 1,500 square feet would be in the Dh5.5-Dh6 million band, while a three-bed of 1,800 square feet plus can command a steep Dh7 million.)
Going forward, developments on another highway will come into reckoning. The bulk of the new construction over the next two decades is centred around Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, with Mohammad Bin Rashid City and Dubai World Central as the core.
“We believe that the overall rise in Dubai rents will result in a migratory effect, relocating people from the Shaikh Zayed Road locations to more affordable areas on Mohammad Bin Zayed Road,” said Sameer Lakhani, managing director of Unitas Consultancy. “We expect to see a higher rate of home ownership in these areas.
“Communities such as Dubai Sports City, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Jumeriah Village will start to gain momentum as their infrastructure are near completion, thus converging with the more established communities, while prices in Jumeirah Golf Estates appear to have overshot to the upside relative to the infrastructure development.
“In the last rally, high‐rise communities on the Mohammad Bin Zayed Road Corridor had under-performed by 40 per cent, with the potential for an upside movement as their infrastructure ramps up.”
