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Real Estate

News in brief

01 November 2020

Nakheel set to open 800-room RIU JV hotel next month

Leading master developer Nakheel says its joint venture with Spain’s RIU Hotels & Resorts – RIU Dubai – is set to open its doors in December, thus bringing a new hospitality concept to Dubai and marking the 100th RIU establishment worldwide.

Fit-out of the resort – RIU’s first in the Middle East and the first four-star, all-inclusive beachfront resort in Dubai – has been completed, with the splash water park in the final stages of construction and landscaping work under way.

Located on a prime beachfront plot, the resort has 800 rooms and suites, most with a sea view, and ample dining and leisure facilities, including 10 food and beverage outlets, three swimming pools and two children’s pools, a fitness centre, spa, beauty salon, children’s club and conference facilities.

Deira Islands, Nakheel’s new, 15-sq-km waterfront city, has added 40 km of coastline to Dubai, and is transforming the emirate’s oldest and most traditional trading hub into a world-class destination for living, tourism, retail and leisure.

Nakheel Hospitality and Leisure Managing Director Thorsten Ries says: “Our first international joint venture brings a new dimension to Dubai’s tourism sector, providing a fresh concept in accommodation and attracting a new market segment to the emirate.”

Azizi releases first homes in Park Avenue

Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, has released the first units of its Dh300-million ($81.6 million) Park Avenue project, located on Meydan Avenue, for sale.

Park Avenue is Azizi’s newly launched low-rise lifestyle community in MBR City, Dubai’s most popular residential destination by sales transactions, move-in requests and property prices. The work on the residential community began in August this year.

The initial residential properties launched were in the first building, Park Avenue I, which features 140 homes comprising 39 one- and 101 two-bedroom apartments. Properties in the other two buildings, Park Avenue II and III, will be released for sale in the coming months.

Upon completion, Park Avenue will comprise 372 residential and 29 retail units across its three buildings.

Union Properties board approves Dubai Autodrome stake sale

Union Properties, a pioneer in the UAE property development sector, has announced that its board of directors has approved the offer of Dh400 million (($108.8 million) for a 40 per cent stake in its subsidiary Dubai Autodrome, the UAE’s first fully-integrated multipurpose motorsport and entertainment facility.

The decision was taken at a meeting held on September 29. During a session, the board also voted unanimously to acquire an existing investment property in the Business Bay area of Dubai, worth Dh250 million. They will continue to evaluate and negotiate the acquisition of various other real estate assets in the UAE, says the Dubai developer.

Meanwhile, Union Properties has completed the capital increase of three of its subsidiaries – Dubai Autodrome, ServeU and The FitOut – thus taking the total to Dh490 million.The Emirati company says its main objective was to reveal its assets and subsidiaries, which reflected fruitfully, following the offer to acquire a stake in Dubai Autodrome.

Chairman Khalifa Hasan Al Hammadi says Union Properties’ board of directors had previously taken a decision to convert a number of its subsidiaries into private joint stock companies as an advance step in preparation for their listing on the financial market.

“These companies operate in vital areas capable of attracting investments or cash flows, whether through listing, acquisition or sales of shares,” notes Al Hammadi.

Dubai property buyers ‘eyeing spacious homes in city outskirts’

As accessibility to areas away from the city centre improves, Dubai’s property market is seeing a new trend in buyers opting for spacious homes in newer localities, according to leading real estate portal Property Finder.

With the majority of the city’s residents having experienced the restrictiveness of living indoors during the lockdown, the demand for larger, more spacious homes is rapidly increasing, it states.

A multitude of new developments located on the periphery of the city’s epicentre promise unparalleled housing solutions with an enhanced community experience.

Re-evaluating housing preferences in a post-pandemic world, more and more residents are now in search of larger homes. Since the start of the pandemic, the ratio of sales transactions for one-bedroom units has fallen by over 10 per cent and for studios by more than 34 per cent. The ratio of transactions for three, four and five-bedroom houses, however has increased by nine, 20 and 15 per cent respectively, states Property Finder in its new report that sheds light on Dubai’s emerging new property hotspots.