Dubai megaproject: world's tallest hotel Ciel reaches construction milestone

Construction of Ciel Tower in Dubai — set to be the world's tallest stand-alone hotel at 365 metres — has reached the halfway stage of 52 storeys, said the skyscraper's developer, The First Group.

Work on the megaproject in Dubai Marina is on track to meet the scheduled completion date in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the hotel's opening in the first half of 2024, the Dubai-based developer said on Tuesday.

When completed, the tower will surpass Dubai's 356m Gevora Hotel, which is currently the world's tallest hotel. Designed by architectural company NORR, it is being built by The First Group’s chief development partner, China Railway Construction Corporation.

“Ciel is a landmark development for Dubai that will not only enhance its status as one of the world’s great tourism and business travel destinations, but will set a new benchmark for upscale accommodation in what is recognised as one of the most dynamic and competitive hotel markets on the planet,” said Rob Burns, chief executive of The First Group.

Dubai's hospitality and tourism industry is continuing to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The emirate hosted 7.28 million international overnight visitors between January and December last year, up 32 per cent year-over-year, Dubai Media Office said in February, citing data from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.

The emirate’s hotels, meanwhile, outperformed pre-pandemic levels across all measurements in the fourth quarter of 2021, with occupancy levels exceeding 81.4 per cent, compared to 80.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Average occupancy reached 67 per cent in 2021 compared to 54 per cent in the previous year, Dubai Media Office said.

Ciel Tower will have more than 1,000 guestrooms and suites, as well as premium amenities, such as the Ciel Observatory & Lounge on the 81st floor and a signature rooftop Sky Terrace with infinity pool and bar.

A key feature of the hotel will be a 300-metre atrium with vertically stacked landscaped terraces that will span the building’s 82 floors.

The Gevora Hotel was named the world's tallest hotel when it opened in 2018, beating the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, situated less than four kilometres away, by only six metres.

The ever-evolving Dubai skyline has also recently been enhanced by the emergence of Uptown Tower, which is located between the southern end of Jumeirah Lakes Towers and the Jumeirah Park community.

Uptown Tower reached 329m last week, when concrete was poured for the roof at the 79th level. It will eventually reach 340m when a steel crown is placed on top of the building.

It will be the world's 80th tallest building, according to data from Emporis.

World's tallest towers - top 10

1. Burj Khalifa, Dubai - 828m

2. Shanghai Tower, Shanghai - 632m

3. Makkah Clock Royal Tower, Makkah - 601m

4. Ping An International Finance Centre, Shenzhen - 599m

5. Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin - 597m

6. Lotte World Tower, Seoul - 554m

7. One World Trade Centre, New York - 541m

8. CTF Finance Centre, Guangzhou - 530m

9. Tianjin CTF Finance Centre, Tianjin - 530m

10. Citic Tower, Beijing - 528m

Brief scores:

QPR 0

Watford 1

Capoue 45' 1

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape

History's medical milestones

1799 - First small pox vaccine administered

1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery

1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases

1895 - Discovery of x-rays

1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time

1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1953 - Structure of DNA discovered

1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place

1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill

1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.

1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”