Dubai: It’s the waterfront for Dubai’s first off-plan launches of the year.
Emaar went for such a location with a twin-tower release its “Beachfront” development, and now L-I-V Developers has launched sales at its first tower project, which are on the Dubai Marina waterfront.
And it seems that investors are willing to come on board. Emaar issued a statement that it generated sales interest of Dh1 billion from selling out the 375 units on offer. And a top official at L-I-V confirmed that its pre-launch sales at its Dh400 million project had generated a “significant amount of bookings” and that full details will be announced shortly.
Both projects had tags at the upper end of the pricing spectrum, with Emaar’s reportedly at around Dh2,000 a square foot, according to market observers. L-I-V’s was at Dh1,500 a square foot.
Clearly, Dubai’s developers and its property buyers are picking up on the same sentiments that was on show right through 2017. And VAT has not dented sentiments in the residential off-plan space. At least based on what has been on show so far.
“We have been focused on the project details and not whether we should have launched sales before VAT came into effect,” said Ishan Khwaja, Director of L-I-V Developers. “The project is more than 20 per cent complete and we wanted to ensure that it is completed by Q2-19 and well before the Expo event.
“Most projects that are being launched today and hoping to benefit from an Expo upturn will only be completed in 2021-22.
“Our pricing is based on the fact that all of the apartments will either have a water view or a sea view. The prime plot became a natural fit.”
L-I-V Developers has been around in the market for some time, primarily through acquiring plots and developing Dh20 million plus villas at Emirates Hills. The Dubai Marina plot was bought in 2015 and construction started in Q3-16. (The company also had some development interests in the US, principally in New York, Los Angeles and Orange County.) Khwaja said the company has built up a land bank for further launches, and that the choice will always be for “prime investment locations”. The second project could be by the middle of this year.
More options are coming up across the length and breadth of Dubai’s waterfront locations — Meraas has multiple island options such as Bluewaters and Nikki Beach, the Palm with its Raffles-branded twin-tower on the Palm, Dubai Properties with 1/JBR, and Emaar with the Beachfront and its other twin-tower project — for an Address hotel — at Jumeirah Beach Walk.
And that’s only along the Jumeirah coastline. Further down and in and around the Dubai Creek Canal, developers are lining up their latest high-end living options.
The real estate action by Dubai’s waterside is going to flow for some time to come.
