Dubai:The world’s tallest residential building — the 414 metres Princess Tower — has been delivered by its developer Tameer, following years of preparation, financing and construction over the last four years of economic downturn that wiped off many other projects.
Occupying a land area of 37,410 square feet, the Dh1.5 billion tower comprises of six basement levels, a ground floor and 100 levels above. Princess Tower offers 763 individual units, including 1, 2, 3 bedrooms and penthouses and is supported by 957 parking bays, while 8 retail shops located on ground floor. About 98 per cent of the tower has been sold out.
Earlier this year, the tower was officially recognised as the World Tallest Residential Building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Guinness World Records (GWR).
Although it is exactly half the size of the 828-metres tall Burj Khalifa — Princess Tower is the tallest in Dubai Marina and currently ranks 13th tallest tower in the world, according to CTBUH.
With the latest delivery, the UAE has become host to 22 of the tallest 100 completed buildings in the world, according to the CTBUH list. China leads the race for tallest buildings hosting 31 while the United States trail the UAE with 21.
With the latest delivery, Dubai — the city of superlatives - currently outshines all other global cities in hosting the highest number of the tallest 100 buildings – with 19 of its super tall towers are amongst the tallest 100 list.
This is the second delivery by Tameer, majority owned by Saudi investors Al Rajhi Group within a few weeks. The developer earlier handed over Elite Residences — a 381 metres tall residential tower, standing just 50 metres away from Princess Tower. In terms of height, Elite Residences equals the height of Empire State Building in New York.
The delivery comes at a time, when Dubai’s property market looks up for a slow but more structured growth.
“The market has already come back,” Federico Tauber, president of Tameer, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a briefing. “We see this year as a year of consolidation and 2013 as a year for growth.”
Dubai’s overall residential market is seeing a positive trend with the villa market continuing to outperform the apartment sector in Q2 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle, said in a recent report.
According to developers, a total of 24,000 additional units are currently scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2012. “Prime residential buildings in well-established locations continue to see improved performance, but secondary locations are still suffering from rental and pricing declines,” it said.
However, the building was developed under an extremely difficult period.“The ability to face these exceptionally challenging market conditions were only achieved with the help of Tameer owners, the support and trust of our clients — whose contribution we sincerely recognise and appreciate — the efforts of our investors, contractors … among others,” he said.
This year, Tameer is poised for the delivery of five projects. In addition to Princess and Elite towers, it is delivering two towers in Business Bay and one in the International City.
“Almost all of our inventories are sold out — we are left with a few. We have a very limited land bank,” Tauber said. “However, since we are a long-term believer in Dubai’s property market, we are looking at new opportunities. We might make some announcements in the near future.”
