In the luxury property market, the stakes are about as high as the buildings springing up in Jeddah, Manama, Qatar and Dubai. Get it wrong, and you’re left with a costly white elephant that will eventually go for a song, if at all. Get it spot on, and awards, prestige and lucrative offers of work in other countries and regions will follow.
DAMAC Properties has certainly got it right. Part of DAMAC Holdings (founded in 1982 as a specialist catering company), the property arm was established in 1996 and has since grown into one of the most successful residential, leisure and commercial developers in Dubai and the Middle East. With a portfolio that encompasses golf courses, five-star hotels, town houses, malls and penthouses, and a client list that includes pop stars, Presidents, royalty, and the just-as-important engineers and architects, the company has majored in building its schemes in the most desirable and exclusive locations in our fast developing cities.
But it’s in their latest Dubai offerings, The Signature Residences, a series of penthouses located in Ocean Heights, where even ceo Peter Riddoch feels that the company has achieved more than ever before, “We were continually being asked by our high-end customers to provide them with even more. So we sat down with a number of them and they gave us their wish-list,” says Riddoch. Reflecting our high-tech age, and possibly men’s fascination with gadgets, it was not the décor, furniture or facilities of the building that people wanted upgrading, it was the technology to make life easier. “So it came down to having the lift identify them at the lobby or having iris or fingerprint sensors to open their front door for them,” he adds. The most expensive property in this building sold for an outstanding 10 million USD, a DAMAC record.
The penthouses naturally have been completed to the highest specifications. Hersh Bedner Associates, one of the world’s leading hospitality interior design companies partnered with DAMAC to create a stylish, simple and luxurious living space. Add in all mod cons – a dining room that resembles a banqueting hall and extensive leisure facilities – it comes as no surprise that there are only two floors of residences still available at the time of writing.
Following on from the success of this project comes the recently launched DAMAC Heights, a 90-storey development designed by Aedas where every one, two or three bedroom apartment and penthouse meet the Signature series specification and “hence it carries the DAMAC name,” says Riddoch. Work is likely to commence at the start of 2008. “Only ten per cent of apartments were released for early sale this year. All have been sold. And we’ll have another push just after the Dubai shopping festival,” he adds.
With these two large developments underway, and with talk over the last few years about whether Dubai’s bubble is bursting, you might be forgiven for thinking that these developments will be DAMAC’s last in Dubai. However, when challenged on whether Dubai has now reached its limit, particularly in the luxury and retail markets, Riddoch confidently rebuts any pessimism. “Dubai will continue to be a major portion of our field, and we see the current growth in Dubai certainly continuing through to about 2015,” he states.
He’s not alone. Many commentators and investors feel that announcing the end of Dubai’s growth is a little premature. Certainly, recently announced projects such as Bawadi – an 11-kilometer long development featuring shops, hotels and residences – indicate that there is a large appetite in Dubai for construction, and that firms are prepared to break ground away from the waterfront.
However, even if growth in the Emirate were to slow, DAMAC’s mixed-use approach to developments, coupled with its ability to maximise growing and developing economies in the Middle East and North Africa will ensure it a profitable future. “Dubai, in all seriousness, is run as a big corporation. I think it’s fair to say that the Dubai model, which is a very exciting, vibrant and proactive model, works in developing economies,” says Riddoch. DAMAC’s success at making the most of the flexibility of this type of economy has led it to be invited into other countries by local governments including those of Russia and Asia.
Despite DAMAC’s many successes, the fact remains that political stability is needed for the progression of any company, and one project that has been stalled for about 18 months is the La Residence project in Downtown Beirut. “I’m hopeful that the parties can agree on a new President and move forward again. Because if and when that happens, we would certainly want to not only be continuing with La Residence, as we’re doing, but look again at other opportunities in Lebanon,” says Riddoch.
Good news for Lebanon property investors because when DAMAC move into other countries, they do so in style. The Gamsha Bay development in Egypt is a ten year, 320 million square feet development on the Red Sea featuring hotels, scuba diving, retail establishments and more, making it once built the region’s largest leisure destination. No small wonder then, that DAMAC’s projects, announced and delivered, amount to some 35 billion USD.
As an off-plan developer, the company takes people’s dreams on trust. “We want to continue to look at how we can further enhance our customer experience because all our customers need to feel that we have still got their requirements, their needs, their hopes, their aspirations at heart,” says Riddoch. And keeping luxury as an achievable aspiration, no matter which market they move into, will remain their goal.
Contact
Damac Properties
Dubai, UAE
Tel + 9714 332 2021
HYPERLINK "http://www.damacproperties.com" www.damacproperties.com
