There is no doubt that the UAE is home to some spectacular properties. From penthouse apartments to plush villas with sprawling gardens and incredible pools, it’s a real estate haven.
Each week, The National showcases some of the finest homes on offer in its Property of the Week. Here, we take a closer look at a Garden Home villa on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah.
The key details
This three-bedroom villa is located on Palm Jumeirah's Frond M and has a built-up area of 6,000 square feet. It has undergone an extensive renovation and has been extended to the full plot capacity.
It has a gym, sunken fire pit in the garden, Marbella-style swimming pool, direct access to the beach and views of Atlantis, The Palm. The property is on the market for Dh35 million with LuxuryProperty.com.
What's the story?
Renovations can mean upheaval, disruption, dust and dirt. It's like taking a step backwards in order to take two steps forward.
There are tales around the world of home owners moving into caravans and living on the drive way for months while their pride and joy is turned back into the shell that it once was before gradually being restored beyond its former glory.
It can be a long road, but one that is so worth traversing, as proven by this instance of renovation success where the outcome is a sparkling home regarded as one of the finest of its type on the Palm.
It impresses both inside and out, from its clean interior with Italian marble and state-of-the-art kitchen to its feature furnishings such as the pool table and piano.
The open-plan living area leads straight on to an exemplary outdoor area via bi-folding doors offering the ideal Dubai lifestyle mix of entertaining, comfort and fun and games by the sea.
Also the red Ferrari parked in front is very much the cherry on top of the cake.
What the broker says ...
How do Garden Homes differ from the other villa types on Palm Jumeirah?
Garden Homes are the smaller of the villa types on Palm Jumeirah, ranging from three to five bedrooms, but make no mistake, they are still incredibly spacious. The built-up area for these homes is between 5,000 and 5,400 square feet, and the plots range from 6,000 to 7,000 square feet. These are highly desirable family homes, and tend to offer a homelier ambiance than what you might find with a Signature Villa.
How much do the renovations add to the price? How much did this one cost to upgrade?
Renovations add a multitude of value, specifically when done to a high standard, they can easily double or triple the value of a home. In today's market, most buyers are looking for fully upgraded turnkey homes where all they need to do is move in and start enjoying their new lives right away.
Is the Ferrari going with the seller – and the rest of the furniture?
The furniture is staying, as the house is sold fully furnished. All you need to bring is your suitcase! The Ferrari can also be thrown into the mix provided the buyer is willing to pay full price for it.
Where is the best value found – Palm Jumeirah or the newer villa communities such as MBR District One and Dubai Hills?
All fronds are now working in the same way. Some people prefer the newer custom fronds, however on the other hand some clients prefer a fully developed frond. The Palm will always hold more value and will be more desirable than any other area, due to the connotations of what owning a Palm Jumeriah villa means and the lifestyle that comes with it. The most expensive homes of this year were mostly on the Palm, with a small handful in other luxury areas such as Jumeirah Bay Island and Dubai Hills Estate.
What’s the single best feature of this house?
The phenomenal garden combined with the living space, where you can enjoy the most incredible sea views. This home provides a true beachfront family lifestyle on Palm Jumeirah. Really, all of the finishes of the home are phenomenal, which really becomes noticeable as you walk through it.
- Liam Ure, senior private client advisor, LuxuryProperty.com
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The five pillars of Islam
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Jawan
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAtlee%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Nayanthara%2C%20Vijay%20Sethupathi%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack
match info
Southampton 0
Arsenal 2 (Nketiah 20', Willock 87')
Red card: Jack Stephens (Southampton)
Man of the match: Rob Holding (Arsenal)
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
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.”
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Netherlands v UAE, Twenty20 International series
Saturday, August 3 - First T20i, Amstelveen
Monday, August 5 – Second T20i, Amstelveen
Tuesday, August 6 – Third T20i, Voorburg
Thursday, August 8 – Fourth T20i, Vooryburg
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Central%20Bank's%20push%20for%20a%20robust%20financial%20infrastructure
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