The developer behind a luxury project on Dubai's World Islands said its first homeowners will move in this year – and that a desire for isolation could deliver more interest in the coming months.
Kleindienst Group said owners who bought into the Heart of Europe project would begin occupying villas on the man-made islands towards the end of 2020.
The project's 10 'palaces' featuring and private beaches have all been sold to mostly GCC buyers, though hundreds of smaller villas and flats remain under construction.
Chairman Josef Kleindienst said actual sales have dropped off due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there has been a rise interested parties.
We sold enough to fund what we are building. And it is important for us to build only what can be sold
"Our sales dropped more than 50 per cent since corona started," he told The National during a tour of the sprawling island development.
“New investors are not buying when they cannot visit."
But he said boats will begin taking investors over to the islands, 4km off the Dubai coast, from June 15.
Development on the World Islands has repeatedly stalled in the years following its construction in 2003 and handover to developers in 2008.
But significant progress on this latest project has been made in the past two years. Today, multistorey apartment and hotel buildings rise up from the low-lying islands.
Half a dozen floating 'seahorse villas' are lined up in a row and beachfront properties near completion.
Mr Kleindienst, an Austrian former police official turned businessman, said he would prove critics wrong.
“I guarantee you by the end of 2020, people will have moved into our villas, floating villas and hotels,” he said.
The restrictions that were put in place because of coronavirus "has only increased productivity here".
"Nobody was allowed on or off the islands, so we were able to get people to work longer hours and pay them overtime.”
Among the flagship properties is a Dh100 million beach palace on 'Sweden Island', now sold, with a price tag that rivals high-end Emirates Hills villas and Downtown penthouses.
Along with wealthy buyers, the project also relies on tourism spend to ensure it is a success.
Mr Kleindienst said the remote location would be attractive to people looking for a holiday, while maintaining social distancing.
“Towards the end of the year, when the project is open, there are two possibilities,” he said.
“Either a solution will have been found for the virus or we will be able to test everyone coming here.
“Everyone who is tested, and found not to have Covid-19, will be free to travel to the island and enjoy a holiday.”
Portofino and Cote D’Azure, the two hotels, together have almost 1,500 rooms, about the same as Atlantis on The Palm.
The global hotel industry is forecast to face significant challenges in the years ahead, but Mr Kleindienst insisted enough of the project has been sold to fund the rest of the work.
This week there were 1,200 workers on site pushed ahead with the hotels and apartments.
“Our master plan allows us to build 4,000 bedrooms. We have 2,000 under construction today," he said.
"We sold enough to fund what we are building.
“It is important for us to build only what can be sold.”
The first of the floating villas sold for Dh5 million, about the same as an upmarket villa in a wealthy Dubai neighbourhood, while the last one to be sold went for Dh20m, he said.
The project has had some setbacks along the way.
It was reported in 2018 that one of the floating villas had sunk near the Burj Al Arab.
Mr Kleindienst said it was an events platform that had fallen into the sea, not one of the prestigious floating villas, as reported by some media, but that it was enough to make buyers think twice about investing.
“We lost agreed sales because of that,” he said.
We are seeing island destinations doing well globally in lockdown and it does have a USP to be successful. It was not something that was going to pop up overnight
Despite the anticipated economic impact of the pandemic, there were 1,824 property sales in Dubai in April, worth Dh3.62 billion, according to Property Finder. Seventy per cent were off-plan projects that are still to be built.
John Stevens, long-standing property consultant in Dubai, said the Heart of Europe project could arrive on the market at the right time.
"Hotels that were offering packages during the quarantine period in Dubai did amazingly well," said Mr Stevens, managing director of property management firm Asteco, which is not involved in the islands project.
"Some had occupancy levels as high as 70 per cent and there seems to be a move to find nice locations to sit it all out.
"The question is how long will it continue for though?"
He also said private villas on a neighbouring island off Dubai were fully booked during the period when a permit was required to leave home and which ended on Friday, April 24.
"This is a huge development with expensive costs, it was never going to be easy to get it off the ground," he said.
"We are seeing island destinations doing well globally in lockdown and it does have a USP to be successful.
"It was not something that was going to pop up overnight."
The World Islands were in the headlines in 2018 when actress Lindsay Lohan announced plans to build her own themed resort there.
The American star of Mean Girls told her followers on Instagram she was planning to build "Lindsayland" in Dubai.
The post received more than 2,000 likes – before being deleted soon after.
HWJN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Yasir%20Alyasiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Baraa%20Alem%2C%20Nour%20Alkhadra%2C%20Alanoud%20Saud%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20scammed
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENever%20click%20on%20links%20provided%20via%20app%20or%20SMS%2C%20even%20if%20they%20seem%20to%20come%20from%20authorised%20senders%20at%20first%20glance%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAlways%20double-check%20the%20authenticity%20of%20websites%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EEnable%20Two-Factor%20Authentication%20(2FA)%20for%20all%20your%20working%20and%20personal%20services%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EOnly%20use%20official%20links%20published%20by%20the%20respective%20entity%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDouble-check%20the%20web%20addresses%20to%20reduce%20exposure%20to%20fake%20sites%20created%20with%20domain%20names%20containing%20spelling%20errors%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
