Emaar Properties, Dubai's largest listed developer, has announced two luxury projects in the emirate valued at a combined Dh96 billion ($26.14 billion) as the property market continues to grow amid strong investor demand.
The lifestyle projects, The Heights Country Club and Grand Club Resort, will be next to one of its current developments, The Oasis, on the outskirts of Dubai.
No specific details were revealed about either project, but Emaar said both “are expected to significantly enhance sales and profitability” and include “a substantial number of villas and townhouses”.
The Heights Country Club, valued at Dh55 billion, is the larger of the two planned developments, with the “retreat” covering an area of 81 million square feet, Emaar said.
The Grand Club Resort, with an area of 60 million square feet, has a development value of Dh41 billion. Emaar said the project will include a wellness centre and offer luxury hospitality.
“These developments are more than just projects; they are a powerful statement of our vision … representing the grandeur and transformative future of high-end living,” said Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties.
The latest launch comes as Dubai's property market grows due to strong investor demand on the back of favourable economic conditions and policies that encourage long-term residency.
Last year, the value of real estate deals in the emirate reached Dh634 billion, an annual growth of 20 per cent.
Property consultancy Knight Frank said in a report this week that prices of prime residential properties in Dubai rose by more than 16 per cent last year, the second-fastest pace globally.
Despite the record sales of luxury homes last year, Dubai is still ranked towards the bottom end of the most expensive prime markets globally, the report said.
With $1 million securing 979 square feet in any of the emirate’s three prime residential districts, the city was ranked 13th on the list of the world's top 15 prime residential markets.
In June, Emaar launched The Oasis, a $20 billion luxury waterfront property development with 7,000 residential units, including mansions and villas.
Emaar is also expected to announce details later this year regarding the tower being built at Dubai Creek Harbour, which had been touted to be the world's tallest. However, following the initial announcement, Mr Alabbar said it would be a smaller, more elegant structure than previously planned.
At this year's Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, Mr Alabbar said the new design had been approved and construction has started on the tower, which will not be as tall as Burj Khalifa.
“Everybody wants to have an apartment in Paris overlooking the Eiffel Tower, right? So we said 'listen, our buildings are only 50 storeys tall, why do we have to build something one kilometre tall?',” Mr Alabbar said.
“We changed our minds and we redesigned. In the coming months, we will show the tower. We did something like male and female [towers], so Burj Khalifa will be the male and Creek Tower will be the female.”
This month, the company reported a 70 per cent increase in its 2023 financial year net profit, driven by increased sales.
Net profit for the 12 months to the end of December rose to Dh11.6 billion.
Company%20profile
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Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
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.”
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