Dubai: The first nine “water homes” have anchored off Business Bay and will soon be assigned their owners, according to the developer Dubai Properties. The number of these homes built will eventually be in their “tens and not hundreds”.
The prices of these super-luxury homes — built in Finland and shipped over to Dubai’s Port Rashid — are yet to be revealed. On how buyers are to be identified, a top DP official said that they have been flooded with demand “only the lucky few will get a chance to buy them”.
The buyers will, however, not be decided by auctions, Marwan Al Kindi, Executive Director — Sales & Sales Operations. “Honestly, I’m against auctions … I think we should give the customer profile more attention. People who would really like to use it as a home for themselves. It is not just about investment and who paid more — no, this is not really our drive [with the water homes].”
The water homes form part of the Marasi Business Bay cluster within the master-development. The Dh1 billion project makes full use of the Canal extension, and which will also create an extensive retail and F&B promenade. When all of these slot into place, Business Bay’s profile will get a qualitative leap.
Dubai Properties is making sure its on-land game plan can generate as much momentum. It is launching the first of four “Marasi” towers. It is also the first residential high-rise DP has launched at Business Bay in a while.
“There were two other towers that we launched called Bellevue 1 and 2, which are facing Marasi — but as a master plan, it is located in the Downtown,” said Al Kindi. “[Another DP launch], Vision was a commercial tower.
“Marasi Riverside will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, most of them will be facing the Dubai Canal and Burj Downtown. This building has a 360-degree view, with nothing blocking the residents’ view.”
Yoga hub
Dubai Properties also built the original Business Bay high-rises, the Executive Towers fronting Shaikh Zayed Road and one of the more identifiable properties in the city. The development now has a nice buzz around it, and the well-populated F&B outlets have only added to that. And if it’s mental cleansing one needs, Dubai Properties even has a solution for that — a yoga hub that opens in October. It will be operated by Piloga Studio.
Given that private developers are still mounting their own projects there, Business Bay will continue to have its share of ongoing construction for a while. Will it be a further eight to 10 years?
“As I see the market moving with our managements’ plan and direction, I think it will be faster than that … honestly,” said Al Kindi. “Demand is high in this area. Therefore, I think as a market response, we will accelerate to ensure all these areas are completed. If you are asking of how many more plots we have, we have good number. We will launch one tower after the other — we will be refreshing the master plan for Business Bay.”
