What is a luxury home?

With houses built on the greens of one of the world’s top golfing destinations, Jumeirah Golf Estates (JGE) has consistently been ranked as one of the most expensive residential locations in the country. Homeowners and even tenants here certainly don’t mind paying a premium, with one of JGE’s recently launched projects, Hillside, charging up to Dh24 million for a villa.

JGE, however, has lately been diversifying its residential mix with new projects positioned in the mid-market. The most recent of which is Jumeirah Luxury, a project by Jumeirah Luxury Living, a joint venture between JGE and Luxury Living Investments (LLI).

But as Walid Al Dawy, CEO of LLI, explains, Jumeirah Luxury is not about offering low-priced options; it’s all about giving homebuyers maximum value for their money.

With prices starting at Dh2.2 million, Jumeirah Luxury is not really a huge leap from what is generally considered affordable. And with that price, homebuyers get a house in a mature golf community with infrastructure and amenities already in place, along with access to two world-class golf courses. Residents also have a front-view seat of the annual DP World Tour Championship, the season-ending tournament on the European Tour, which JGE hosts every November.

“Some villas may be in a golf community, but you don’t see the golf course,” says Al Dawy. “Jumeirah Luxury is in the middle of the golf course. Other projects don’t even have the golf course built yet.”

Further explaining the development’s pricing strategy, Al Dawy says, “When we designed this district, we designed the villas in clusters so we can reduce the prices. But we kept all the luxury [elements] and the views.” Al Dawy adds that the company also decided to “reduce our margins” to offer a more competitive pricing.

Jumeirah Luxury is built on the last available plot for development in JGE’s Fire golf course. Located at the north-western edge of JGE, Jumeirah Luxury is bounded by the Fire’s hole 5 to the north, hole 7 to the south, hole 6 to the west and a man-made lake exclusively built for the community to its east. The outer residences, called the Golf Villas, have direct views of the greens. The interior villas, called the Flower Villas, have garden views. The third type of residences, called Water Villas, surround the lake and some have direct access to the golf course.

The sub-community also has its own clubhouse, a feature unique to Jumeirah Luxury as the other 15 sub-communities currently share a single clubhouse.

Al Dawy describes the attached villas and town houses as “smart and sustainable” with lots of sunlight. There are up to 11 modern designs to choose from, with three-, four- and five-bedroom options. The top-of-the-line villas, priced over Dh4 million, have a maid’s room and a guest room on the ground level that can be accessed from the inside and outside. On the first level are the bedrooms. “Each room is like a master bedroom,” says Al Dawy, with its own bathroom. There is also the “sky bedroom” on the second floor.

The project also features various smart and green elements in the design, including remote-controlled glass tinting in bathrooms. “We can install the same technology in other areas of the house as an add-on,” says Al Dawy, who was previously CEO of Al Barari for seven years. “Keeping such things optional helps bring the prices down.”

Speaking of prices, the residences will be attractive to investors as well, says Al Dawy, who has a background in finance. “The rent for a five-bedroom residence in JGE is high, so the return on investment is high,” he says. According to the Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s newly updated rent index, rents in JGE range from Dh240,000-Dh310,000 per year for a three-bedroom unit, Dh300,000-Dh340,000 for a four-bedder and Dh350,000-Dh450,000 for a five-bedder. These values can generate double-digit gross yields of up to 10-14 per cent.

Excerpts of the interview:

How did you manage to offer such prices?

It’s about the efficiency of the design. We don’t lose any space. We took a really long time to design the layout to make it really functional.

What are the project’s unique features?

We are incorporating smart technology in each home. You can control your curtains, lights and glass tint in the bathroom. You can also monitor leaks remotely. We give you a nice garden. We signed with Etisalat Facilities Management and Dubai Carbon during Cityscape. Dubai Carbon manages the external areas, including the solar features. Etisalat provides the smart services to the villa owners.

We also have this concept of charging electric cars in the parking area. The infrastructure is ready for this.

Who’s buying the project?

We have from the GCC, India, Egypt and even Japan, the first time we had a buyer from that country. From the first release, we’ve almost sold 75 per cent as of now.

What’s the current status of the development?

After the DP World Tour Championship — Race to Dubai, we will restart the construction, which is now 20 per cent complete. As of now, the infrastructure is finished. The lake is there, the greens is there, the garden is there, and the substation sewerage are ready. It will all come together in fourth quarter of 2019.

So it’s only the homes that are missing?

Yes, that is the most difficult part.