Two of Dubai’s oldest businesses take on new role

Dubai: Two of Dubai’s prominent and oldest established business groups are pitting their strengths to get into residential and hospitality property development.

The new entity —Signature Developers — brings together Lals Group, owner of Lamcy Plaza and Arabian Centre, and Regal Group, one of the doyens in the local textiles and garments trade.

The fist venture (costing under Dh500 million) will be a top-of-the-line residential high-rise located in close proximity to Dubai Mall and part of the wider cluster. “The plan is to have a post-Ramadan launch of the units and it will be available on a by-invitation only basis,” said Jayant Ganwani, vice-chairman and CEO of Lals Group. “Each aspect of the project has been planned to reflect the highest quality and our intention was to make exclusivity in terms of number of units an integral part of the offering.”

There are 400 people working 21 hours on the site to develop the 220-metre structure. Ganwani declined to give an indication of the value of the individual units. But the speculation is that these would have tags in the upper reaches of Dh12 million plus, brought on by a combination of the location, the extent of bespoking the developer intends to put in and the “Dubai premium” that is always attached to a super-exclusive offering.

“If you look at the transactions taking place now in Dubai, there is activity below the Dh1 million pricing and for those properties above Dh5 million,” said Ganwani. “It’s those in between that have been affected by various factors.

“For the price range we hope to offer the units for, there are no dearth of buyers.” (A global real estate agency has been signed up to manage the sales process.)

Mixed-use venture

The second development from Signature is a mixed-use venture in JLT. In the ground plus 44-storey structure, there will be a 170-key five-star hotel and a residential component where the units will be sold outright. Three operators have been shortlisted for the hotel management.

“We acquired the plots in 2012 and the timing was just right for us in terms of our entry,” said Ganwani. “From day one of the joint venture, it was the intent that we would never be a large developer. We wanted to be as far away as possible from the cookie-cutter projects a lot of developers were going for.

“When we formally launch our projects the marketplace will be aware of what we want to create. We will be in no rush to take on new projects. Opportunities will always crop up — exclusivity has a constant following in Dubai.”