Anyone familiar with Dubai would assume that, given the huge number of residential towers that mushroomed across the desert plains during the boom years – and now sit seemingly vacant – there must be an oversupply of homes in this market. But there are two interesting points to note about this common observation. First, more than 20 per cent of the properties in this market are actually owned by absentee owners. Second, almost all the developments built before the real estate bubble that burst in 2009 weren’t constructed with the best care and few can be considered to have top quality finishing. And that’s exactly where The Alef Residences, a new project by Saudi Arabia’s Al Sharq Group and Qatar’s Al Mana Group, comes in.
“What we noticed was that the penthouses available in this market were typical of normal residential buildings,” says Mahmoud Amer, executive director of Al Sharq Investment, the joint venture entity formed to develop The Alef Residences. “In other words, the quality of the finishing in the penthouses was similar to that of a regular unit. The lobby was still an average lobby and the lift was still the regular lift. Basically, the whole ambience didn’t feel right. So we identified this narrow gap in the market and launched The Alef Residences as a response to it and over the past few years, we’ve garnered a lot of interest from actual end-users at the top of the market – not necessarily investors – looking for a comfortable, luxurious home in Dubai.”
Designed by RMJM, The Alef Residences is slated for completion by spring 2017, on a plot on the western crescent of Palm Jumeirah, just after the Kempinski and before our favourite hotel in Dubai, the One&Only The Palm (featured in Bespoke issue 28). Amer explains how their aim is to combine the exclusivity of a private villa with the communal setting of an apartment building and the convenience of five-star hotel services (the adjacent W Hotel is owned by the same joint venture).
“The project has been designed to be exclusive and private with 104 units divided among eight mansions, which means that each lobby only serves about 12 to 14 units,” says Amer. “And there are no corridors in this development so when you enter a mansion lobby, you’ll have your dedicated lift serving seven floors, each with one apartment to the right and one to the left.” And as you might expect, given Amer’s earlier statements, the penthouses, of which there are five, will each have their own lobby and lift.
All the apartments will boast spacious interiors, floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces, and some will have their own swimming pools. But Amer says the true appeal of Alef is far more complex than the size and intimacy of the independent units. “I always say that selling real estate is not about selling areas. You’re selling the location, you’re selling the quality of the build and the quality of the finishes but you’re also selling the convenience of the facilities and the services, which in this case is a five star hotel. The standard services at The Alef Residences include security, 24-hour concierge, valet parking, common area cleaning and maintenance, all delivered according to the standards of a five-star property but there are also the à la carte services like housekeeping and room service.”
Architecturally, RMJM’s design may be quintessentially modern but it also pays tribute to its surroundings. “The eight mansions are split into two buildings, one facing the open sea and the other facing the trunk of the Palm,” says Amer. “In between those two buildings there is a narrow alley, which we call the wadi, and it’s here that the drop-off to the mansions is situated. The wadi was inspired by the vernacular of the region especially in terms of the interplay of light and if you take a look at the renderings you can see the beautiful effect of the sunlight as it bounces between the two buildings.”
When you think of modern architecture, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a sleek, white building, and, that’s exactly what you get here. No surprises here then. But take a look at the interior and you’ll see that this is where things get interesting. Thanks to an abundance of glass on the façade, there’s a wonderful sense of openness and space, and the tastefulness of the material selection shows a willingness to source globally. This includes grey oak Lignum-engineered flooring, walnut veneer timber panels, unusual marble, some fetching gunmetal fireplaces, Miele kitchen appliances, handsome freestanding bathtubs, Marazzi porcelain tiles and mercury black marble accents. And in a move that shows they know their clients, the developers have decided to sell their five penthouses – of which three are duplexes – as core and shell so as to afford their future owners the freedom to bring their own interior designers and customise them as they see fit.
Prices range from 13 million AED (3.5 million USD) for a 350-square-metre, two-bedroom flat, to around 50 million AED (13.6 million USD) for a 15,000 square-metre penthouse. Amer says that service costs – which come out to around 23 dirhams per square foot (just under 3 USD per m2) of internal space per month – are competitive when compared to other high-end developments in Dubai, while the pricing of the units is in keeping with the exceptional facilities on offer. “On a per square foot basis our prices are not exorbitant, but I cannot stress enough that we’re not just selling space,” he says. “We’re selling space and service and experience and a quality build – it’s a complex matrix.”
Amer stresses that the project has been designed to foster a sense of community. Residents will have plenty of opportunities to make use of shared facilities, including a half-kilometre private beach, a landscaped garden, multiple on-site restaurants, a 16-seat cinema and a library, though the heart of this community is destined to be Club 104, a private members’ facility, which will be run by the W. “The clubhouse has its own swimming pool, which is heated and cooled depending on the season, and a very nice dining area with fantastic views over the beach,” explains Amer. “It has two lounges, spa treatment rooms, top quality gym facilities and tennis courts, so it’ll really bring the community together.”
The Alef Residences may be pricey and clearly aimed at the top tier of homeowners in Dubai but for this particular segment, such a high-end integrated lifestyle development offers a unique chance to acquire a very sweet home.
