The Dubai developer Omniyat plans to build two apartment blocks in Maritime City and Business Bay area as it seeks to return to residential development.
The company, which is majority owned by Mahdi Amjad, the executive chairman and chief executive of the Omniyat Group, will showcase a 48-storey tower in Dubai Maritime City and a 25-storey twin tower project in Business Bay area at the Cityscape property show next week.
Omniyat plans to market the 225 off-plan apartments at its Dh600 million Anwa tower in Dubai Maritime City’s megaproject between Port Rashid and DryDocks World. Prices for the apartments will range between Dh1,700 and Dh2,200 per square foot. Contracts will be awarded in October and completion is scheduled for 2017.
The developer is building the project in partnership with a consortium of high net worth individuals and financial institutions from the Middle East region, which will together own 49 per cent of the project, while Omniyat will own 51 per cent.
At Cityscape Omniyat will also showcase its Dh900m The Sterling block of 274 apartments close to The Dubai Mall. Omniyat said that the twin tower scheme will feature interior designs by the Hong Kong designer Steve Leung,
The two developments will be displayed alongside Omniyat’s Dh2 billion One The Palm – expected to be the tallest tower on Palm Jumeirah – which it is developing in a 50:50 joint venture with the contractor Drake & Scull. The project was announced in August. The two companies purchased the plot of land on Palm Jumeirah together.
Enabling works for the 100-metre tall tower, which includes interior design by the Zuma London designer Super Potato, are due to start next month. The tower will comprise 90 apartments which Omniyat plans to launch next year. A contractor will be appointed in the first three months of next year and the project is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
Omniyat, which was established in 2005 and hit hard by the global financial crisis, said that the company also had a US$1 billion portfolio to deliver over the next 12 months comprising three delayed projects – the Binary, the Opus and the Pad.
“No doubt the six years since 2008 has been quite a challenging market environment,” said Mr Amjad. “It has definitely made us a stronger company.
“Our strategy as Omniyat has been over the last two years to partner on nearly every project that we do. We will be announcing many partnerships to ensure that every project is well capitalised and the partner brings in specific expertise or value,” he added.
The news comes despite reports that prices for the most expensive properties in Dubai have slumped in recent months as new mortgage laws have come into effect.
“We are a big believer in the long- term value of real estate in Dubai,” said Mr Amjad. “We have always said that real estate was a long- term investment. We believe in the long-term value of real estate in Dubai.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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