Dubai: Get set for Dubai’s ‘mansion in the sky’ — Omniyat Properties has confirmed that the costliest unit at its upcoming project on the Palm will have a Dh200 million ($54 million) tag.
The entry price itself will be quite steep — Dh12 million (about $3.25 million) — compared with the prevailing market norm. In all, there will be only 90 apartments available on the ‘One at Palm Jumeirah’, which will occupy a location right at the entrance of Nakheel’s master-development.
Not everyone with serious money to spare can hope to acquire a property at the One — the sales process will be done “by invitation only”, according to Mahdi Amjad, Executive Chairman and CEO of Omniyat.
The Dh2 billion project — a joint venture with Drake & Scull International — will be formally launched in the fourth quarter. It was last year that Omniyat had revealed its plans for a Palm “masterpiece”, and a select audience was given a private viewing at the Cityscape event in Dubai.
When asked the reason for the near 12-month gap between the first announcement and the start of sales, Amjad said: “The gradual build-up was always the plan. We wanted the project to be well advanced on the construction side before commencing sales. During this period, we have sounded out high net-worth investors in our global client network on what was coming. We had to precise with the preselection for who would be buyers at the One.”
A boutique New York based agency, Soma, has done the design, while the interiors will be by Japan’s Super Potato. The local architect-on-record will be the firm RMJM.
A price of Dh200 million for a penthouse immediately pushes the per square foot (psf) values into the Dh4,000 and more than range. “That’s been Omniyat’s strategy in any master-development we have ventured into — to create the priciest piece of real estate in that location,” said Amjad. “It’s what we have achieved with the Opus (the developer’s costliest project at Dh2.5 billion, which has been designed by Zaha Hadid) in Business Bay, where the psf is now Dh4,000. The way we design our buildings are unique, we bring in some of the biggest names to design them. And we do not stint on creating the level of detailing in each one.
“We plan to launch a ground plus 25-storey mid-tier project at IMPZ [International Media Production Zone] by year-end ... even there our pricing would be the highest within that range.”
Omniyat is not fazed by the slackness that has come investor activity at the luxury end of Dubai’s property market. “It’s never been the case that Dubai has been reliant on buyers from one country or the other — there’s no shortage of destinations from which developers can find a buyer. Anywhere from Los Angeles to Shanghai is a possibility, and in fact we are finding an increase in Chinese buyers.
“And there will always be the Gulf-based buyers — their commitment levels are still strong.”
