news brief 18 - astecoreal estate news abu dhabi abu dhabi developer manazel real estate approves...

DUBAI | ABU DHABI | AL AIN | SHARJAH | JORDAN

© Asteco Property Management, 2016 asteco.com | astecoreports.com IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR 30 YEARS

ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING

VALUATION & ADVISORY SALES MANAGEMENT OWNER ASSOCIATION

RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

NEWS BRIEF 18 SUNDAY 01 MAY 2016


© Asteco Property Management, 2016 asteco.com | astecoreports.com

IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR 30 YEARS



REAL ESTATE NEWS UAE

FALCON-INSPIRED DESIGN FOR UAE EXPO 2020 NATIONAL PAVILION

FIRST-QUARTER PROFIT RISES AT EMIRATES REIT

PHILIPPINES AIMS TO BUILD ON BOOM IN TOURISTS FROM MIDDLE EAST

MAURITIUS TEMPTS UAE PROPERTY BUYERS WITH AN EXOTIC LIFE

DUBAI

LIVE UNDER WATER IN DUBAI: RENT A HOME @ DH25,000 PER DAY

ONLY IN DUBAI: THE 'ULTIMATE GUARANTEE' FROM REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS

CONFIRMED: DUBAI’S IMG WORLDS OF ADVENTURE THEME PARK TO OPEN IN

AUGUST

EMAAR TO OPEN 35 NEW HOTELS IN NEXT FIVE YEARS

WHY BUY HOUSE NOW? 3 FACTORS THAT DRIVE DUBAI PROPERTY MARKET

DUBAI RENTS FALL FASTEST IN PRIME AREAS AS JOBS MARKET WEAKENS

RETAIL, LEISURE AND GREEN SPACES AT DIFC’S NEW GATE AVENUE DEVELOPMENT

DUBAI’S EMAAR MALLS Q1 NET PROFIT GROWS 22 PER CENT

JACUZZI OR SAUNA? DAMAC LAUNCHES HOTEL SPA VILLAS IN DUBAI’S AKOYA

OXYGEN

DUBAI HOTEL ROOM RATES SET GLOBAL PACE

EMAAR BRINGS ‘MINI-DUBAI’ TO LONDON’S HARRODS

DUBAI SET FOR ANOTHER FALL IN PROPERTY PRICES, SAYS S&P

INDIA’S TAJ HOTELS SETS SIGHTS ON PALM JUMEIRAH ANEW

DUBAI TOURISM EASES HOLIDAY HOME REGULATIONS

DUBAI’S AYKON CITY TO FEATURE GLASS-FLOOR VIEWING CAPSULE AT NEARLY

1,000FT






REAL ESTATE NEWS

ABU DHABI

ABU DHABI DEVELOPER MANAZEL REAL ESTATE APPROVES BONUS SHARE AFTER

PROFIT RISE

ALDAR GIVES UPDATE ON ABU DHABI RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS

HOTEL LINKED TO AL MARYAH CENTRAL MALL EXPECTED IN 2019

NORTHERN EMIRATES

UMM AL QUWAIN SIGNS ON SOBHA GROUP TO BUILD DH25BN TOURIST RESORT ON

AL SINNIYAH ISLAND

GCC | INTERNATIONAL

PARSONS BOSS SAYS GULF STILL ATTRACTIVE FOR ENGINEERS EVEN IN A SLOWDOWN






FALCON-INSPIRED DESIGN FOR UAE EXPO

2020 NATIONAL PAVILION

SUNDAY, 01 MAY 2016

The National Media Council has selected architect Santiago Calatrava’s design for the UAE Pavilion for Dubai

World Expo 2020.

Located facing the Al Wasl Plaza, which lies at the centre of the 200-hectare exhibition zone, the UAE Pavilion –

whose design will be inspired by a falcon in flight – will represent the UAE to the 25 million visitors and

participants from over 180 nations who are expected to visit the Expo from October 2020 to April 2021.

Santiago Calatrava’s proposal was formally selected following a seven-month design competition managed by

Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, in its capacity as program manager.

The contest saw nine of the world’s most renowned architectural firms submit 11 concepts. Each design was

evaluated against specific criteria, including how fully the design expressed the main theme of Expo 2020

“Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and how well it captured a distinct Emirati feel and a balance between

the UAE’s past and future.

Commenting on the appointment, Minister of State and National Media Council Chairman Dr Sultan Ahmed Al

Jaber said: “The proposed design of the UAE Pavilion captures the story we want to tell the world about our

nation. Our late founding father His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan used falconry expeditions to

forge connections between tribes and to create a distinct national identity which ultimately led to the founding of

the United Arab Emirates. Now, the falcon design will symbolise how we are connecting the UAE to the minds of

the world and how as a global community we can soar to new heights through partnership and cooperation.”

Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai Reem Ebrahim Al

Hashimy said: “The pavilion will be one of the Expo's greatest icons. The design will evoke the pioneering spirit

and power of connections that transformed the UAE from a collection of small, desert communities, into a global

connection point. The UAE pavilion will become an important cornerstone in our site and will have a legacy plan

that will reflect our hopes and ambitions for the many years to come.”

Speaking of his appointment, Santiago Calatrava said: “I am deeply honoured that our practice has been chosen

to design the national pavilion for Dubai Expo 2020, a project of national and global significance. I am confident

that the final design will be a symbol of the bold and daring spirit of the UAE, reflected in what is poised to be the

most inclusive and global Expo in history.”

The pavilion is expected to cover up to 15,000 square meters and will include numerous exhibition areas, an

auditorium, food and beverage outlets and VIP lounges. It will be designed to embrace sustainable building

principles.

Masdar CEO Mohamed Al Ramahi said, “We will capitalise on our experience developing Masdar City, which is on

a journey to being the most sustainable urban development in the world, to ensure the delivery of an innovative,

high-performance pavilion and community space that embraces the Expo’s themes of mobility, opportunity and

sustainability.”






Masdar was appointed program manager by the National Media Council for the UAE Pavilion on the basis of the

renewable energy company’s track record of successfully delivering highly innovative and sustainable projects,

including the LEED Platinum-certified Siemens Middle East Headquarters.

Source: Emirates 24/7

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LIVE UNDER WATER IN DUBAI: RENT A

HOME @ DH25,000 PER DAY

SUNDAY, 01 MAY 2016

Though half of the owners of the 100 floating seahorses (floating homes) in The Heart of Europe (THOE) project

on The World islands will be keeping them for their own use, the rest are available for rent.

But it will not be cheap if you don’t book it during the soft launch in October 2016, you could save 150 per cent on

rent.

The lease rate during the soft launch will be Dh10,000 a day, but will eventually rise to Dh25,000 a day.

“The soft launch of the floating seahorse on the heart-shape St Petersburg isle will be this October and we will be

offering it for rent for Dh10,000 a day. Eventually, the rate will go up to Dh25,000 a day,” Kleindienst Group

Chairman Josef Kleindienst told Emirates 24|7.

Each of the floating seahorses will have their own butler as well.

“We will have 131 butlers as we have 131 seahorses,” he added.

The floating home is a marine style retreat (a boat without propulsion) and will have three levels: one underwater,

one at sea level and an upper deck.

The master bedroom and bathroom will be totally submerged underwater, while the sea level accommodation

will have floor to ceiling windows, a fully-fitted kitchen with a dining area and an open plan living area.

The upper deck will feature an informal bed, a mini bar, a kitchenette and a glass-bottomed jacuzzi. The deck

could be converted into a winter bedroom, which can be enclosed with retractable drapes.

THOE comprises six islands: Sweden, Germany, Main Europe, Switzerland, St Petersburg and Monaco. It will have

snow and rain-filled streets and a heart-shape island.

“St Petersburg Island has now been re-designed into the shape of a heart, taking inspiration from The Maldives

and some of the world's finest holiday resorts,” Kleindienst had told Emirates 24|7.


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PHILIPPINES AIMS TO BUILD ON BOOM IN

TOURISTS FROM MIDDLE EAST

SATURDAY, 28 APRIL 2016

The Philippines tourism industry is showcasing the best of the South East Asian hotspot at this year’s edition of

the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2016 in Dubai, bringing its largest Philippine contingent yet to travel fair.

The Philippine department of tourism (Pdot) is spearheading the country’s participation in the ATM, which ends

today. A total of 30 travel companies representing the Philippines’ top hotels, resorts and travel agencies joined

the Pdot in the annual showcase of the world’s best destinations, grandest hotel and resort properties and top-

notch tourist products and services.

The Philippines has seen the consistent growth in tourist arrivals from the Middle East. In 2015, the country

received a total of 83,546 tourists from the region, growing by 9.6 per cent over 2014. Tourist arrivals from Saudi

Arabia and the UAE, the two largest markets out of the region for the Philippines, reached 50,884 and 16,881,

respectively, according to the Pdot.

The assistant secretary of the Pdot’s tourism regulation, coordination and revenue generation unit, Arturo

Boncato, said as a part of its programme for the Middle East market, the department has introduced its Halal

Tourism Programme, which is specifically designed to meet the food requirements of Muslim travellers to the

Philippines.

“To maintain the successes we’ve achieved in this region, we see the importance and urgency of having hotels,

resorts and restaurants in key destinations in the Philippines [to be] halal-certified within a 100-day timetable."

This, he said, “is expected to lead to better dining options for our Muslim guests and an improved readiness to

receive tourists from this region."

Initially, he said, the Pdot has assisted 16 hotels and restaurants in the Philippines with the issuance of their halal

certifications. Thirty four more establishments are expected to be certified by the end of May. After seeing the

benefits of halal certification, Mr Boncato said that more tourist-related establishments have signified their

interest to join the program.

To capitalise on the programme’s accomplishments, the Philippines has partnered with CrescentRating, a leading

global authority in Muslim travel, to launch a Muslim traveller’s guide during the Halal Tourism Conference 2016

to be held in Konya, Turkey on May 3 to 5, to highlight the Philippines as a Muslim-friendly destination.

This year is touted as a banner year for Middle East arrivals to the Philippines. In March, Emirates increased flight

frequencies to Manila and mounted new flights to Cebu and Clark, Pampanga, two destinations in the Philippines

that are considered as top tourist draws.


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ONLY IN DUBAI: THE 'ULTIMATE

GUARANTEE' FROM REAL ESTATE

DEVELOPERS

THURSDAY, 28 APRIL 2016

Some developers in Dubai are giving 100 per cent construction guarantee, which is the "ultimate guarantee" that

any developer can give, Real Estate Regulatory Agency Chief Executive Officer told Emirates 24|7.

“There are developers who have given 100 per cent construction guarantee and this is the ultimate guarantee,”

said Marwan bin Ghalita without giving names of the developers.

He revealed that Dh29 billion are being held escrow accounts which reflects confidence of developers and

investors’ in the market.

It is compulsory for every developer in Dubai to open an escrow account under Law No. (8) of 2007 concerning

escrow accounts for real estate development. All the payment received from investors has to be deposited in it.

Money is released by Rera after it assesses the project’s construction having met the required percentage.

Rera chief said they were no longer afraid of projects being stalled, as developers were launching projects to build

them than mere selling them.

“Developers want to complete their projects with many of them wanting to start selling only after the project

nears completion. This shows that the industry has matured over the time.”

Among the guarantees sought is 100 per cent of the land cost to be paid by the developer, a minimum of 20 per

cent of the construction cost to be deposited with Rera with contractors having to pay another 10 per cent of the

construction cost.

In the first quarter 2016, 38 new projects were launched in Dubai. In 2015, 46 projects were completed.

The Dubai Land Department has reported Dh55 billion worth of property transactions across all categories in the

first quarter 2016.

Ghalita said investors had become very smart and were asking questions on materials used, sustainability,

finishes and service charges, which was not previously the case.

We reported earlier that Rera chief wanted developers to cut down on service charges by allocating some portion

of the built-up area in their projects to generate revenue.

“My advice to developer is to allocate some of the built-up area for revenue generation. Start with 50 per cent of

the service charge going up to 70 per cent of the service charge to be covered from this asset and not from the

investor. Hence, the investor will be paying only 30 per cent,” Ghalita had said on sidelines of the Dubai

International Government Achievements Exhibition (DIGAE 2016).


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CONFIRMED: DUBAI’S IMG WORLDS OF

ADVENTURE THEME PARK TO OPEN IN

AUGUST

TUESDAY, 24 APRIL 2016

Dubai’s delayed US$1 billion IMG Worlds of Adventure is set to open on August 15 as it goes head to head with a

rival theme park in Jebel Ali expected two months later.

IMG said that the 1.5 million square feet indoor theme park located on Dubai’s outer Mohammed bin Zayed Road

is almost complete and is set to be the largest indoor theme park in the world – about the size of 28 football

fields. Tickets will go on sale on Monday.

The park, which will include more than 20 rides and attractions, is set to feature Marvel comic heroes, Cartoon

Network characters and dinosaurs.

At a press conference on Sunday featuring life-size comic characters, IMG said that it expected to attract 4.5

million people in the first year of opening.

Tickets will be priced Dh300 for adults and Dh250 for children under 1.2 metres tall.

IMG, which is owned by the Dubai conglomerate Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group, originally intended to open in

2014, but the company said it had been forced to delay because of both the complexity of the project and a

change in construction rules following the 2013 Iranian earthquake.

The IMG theme park opening will now come just two months before Dubai Parks & Resorts expects to open its

three linked theme parks spanning a much larger 25 million sq ft and valued at Dh10 billion.

These will comprise the Hollywood-inspired theme park Motiongate, Dubai Bollywood Parks and Legoland, in

addition to a water park. On Saturday, Dubai Parks reported that 88 per cent of the construction work and 70 per

cent of the utilities infrastructure on its parks had been completed.

The parks form a key part of the Dubai Government’s aim to increase tourist numbers to 20 million visitors a year

by the year 2020, up from 13.2 million in 2015.

“Constructing the world’s largest indoor theme park comes with a degree of complexity. Something like this has

never been constructed in this market," said Lennard Otto, the chief executive of IMG Worlds of Adventure. “The

Government has never seen an attraction of this scale. So there has been a learning curve for both our parties to

be able to build out this scheme to the right level."

“In general as the competitive landscape is shaping up I think with the amount of attractions coming up, Dubai is

moving into an Orlando 2.0 model," he added.

“Where the market is untapped, we have a four-hour flight radius with no major leisure attractions of this scale. If

you look at Orlando, they have multiple parks flourishing in the same location in a competitive environment

because the market has shaped up where you have a very high penetration rate. “Today Dubai’s airport is twice






the size of Orlando’s, it has twice the amount of visitors. It has more room to use. It has a bigger food and

beverage industry."

Currently the UAE boasts just one major indoor theme park, the 86,000 sq metres Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

Source: The National

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EMAAR TO OPEN 35 NEW HOTELS IN NEXT

FIVE YEARS

TUESDAY, 25 APRIL 2016

Dubai’s Emaar Hospitality Group expects to open 35 hotels and serviced residences within about five years as it

expands at home and abroad.

The new hotels will encompass its luxury Address Hotels and Resorts brand and the upscale Vida Hotels and

Resorts as well as the midscale Rove Hotels.

They include the first Address beach resort in Fujairah and others in Egypt, Istanbul and Bahrain. Its flagship The

Address Downtown Dubai hotel has been closed since New Year’s Eve, when a massive fire swept up the facade of

the skyscraper as millions of TV viewers watched events unfold live.

The group said the fire would not have any “negative impact" on its balance sheet but added that it did not expect

it would reopen this year.

Emaar Properties included a Dh301 million writedown when it posted its fourth-quarter earnings in February

because of the blaze.

“The first quarter has been positive year-on-year and the overall [revenue per available room] is still forecasted to

be strong," said Chris Newman, the corporate director of operations for Emaar Hospitality Group.

The hospitality division contributed 12 per cent of Emaar’s revenues last year, at Dh1.64 billion.

Emaar Hospitality operates four hotels and two serviced residences in Dubai under The Address Hotels and

Resorts brand and two hotels under Vida Hotels and Resorts.

The company will roll out its new Rove Hotels brand, developed as a joint venture with Meraas, a Dubai-based

holding company, this year.

The 422-room Rove Downtown Dubai is scheduled to open in May next to The Dubai Mall. This year, it expects to

open Rove Port Saeed and Rove Oud Metha, with later additions of Rove Dubai Marina, Rove Al Jafiliya and Rove

At The Park, located next to Dubai Parks and Resorts’ theme park.

It also expects to open the Rove Satwa hotel with 480 rooms and a direct access to the Dubai International

Convention Centre and Dubai International Financial Centre. The twin-tower development will include serviced

residences. Rove Hotels plans to operate 10 properties with more than 2,660 rooms.

The company also plans to take the Vida brand to Jeddah and Bahrain.

Internationally, it will add 707 hotel rooms and 833 serviced residences.

The Dubai-listed company has teamed up with Eagle Hills, the Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment

and Development Company, to operate The Address Fujairah Resort and Spa. The 196-room property will also

feature 177 apartments and 10 villas.

Under its Address brand, it will add The Address Boulevard Dubai with 196 rooms, The Address Sky View Dubai

with 169 rooms, and The Address Fountain Views Dubai with 193 rooms, all in Downtown Dubai.






The new openings will take the total number of new hotel rooms being added by Emaar Hospitality Group in the

UAE to 3,835 and the number of new serviced residences to 4,249, it said.


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WHY BUY HOUSE NOW? 3 FACTORS THAT

DRIVE DUBAI PROPERTY MARKET

THURSDAY, 28APRIL 2016

Although over Dh55 billion worth of real estate transactions were registered in Dubai in the first three months of

2016, a new report by Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services states that lifting of sanctions on Russia and Iran, oil

price recovery and a weakened US dollar will strongly benefit the recovery of the property market.

“We still believe that the lifting of geopolitical restrictions, such the sanctions on Russia and Iran, could strongly

benefit the recovery of the UAE property market. This would open new investment flows into the regions' real

estate markets and partly compensate for the softening demand from other countries,” the ratings agency said in

a report released on Wednesday.

“A rebound in oil prices as well as weakening US dollar would also likely reverse the negative trend,” the agency

added.

The agency, however, said, quoting industry experts, real estate prices have declined by 10 to 13 per cent on

average in 2015.

“For 2016, we see no sign of improvement for the UAE real estate sector, despite housing affordability improving

from the current price environment. Pressures have arisen from declining oil prices subduing the hiring and

expansion plans of oil-exposed companies, and non-oil private companies' business activities having softened.

“The strong US dollar has made UAE real estate more expensive for international investors holding non-US-dollar

liquidities, and weaker tourist sentiment has affected retailers and their landlords.”

# Absorb price drop

S&P says it does not foresee any major negative movement in its real estate sector ratings over the next 12

months.

“We do not foresee major negative movements in our real estate sector ratings over the next 12 months.

Generally, we believe that our rated developers could absorb a 10 per cent drop in residential sales prices in

Dubai this year.”

The company rated are DIFC Investments, Dubai Investments Park Development Company, Emaar Malls Group

and Majid Al Futtaim Holding, Aldar Properties, Damac Real Estate Development Ltd, and Emaar Properties.

Developers' revenues should remain robust in 2016, despite headwinds, S&P says, stating, “This reflects that most

of their projects are presold -- that is, the majority of units are already sold well before construction ends -- and

proceeds from buyers are blocked in an escrow account until completion.

“All our rated real estate companies have secured lease structures with long lease tenures and more than 90 per

cent occupancies across the portfolio.”

Earlier this month, Emaar Properties Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said he was "really scared" of market

conditions coming into 2016 but their performance looked good in the first quarter 2016 after some “severe” cost

cutting.






"We were really scared of 2016. Preparing for our cost budget, we basically went back to a cost budget base of

two years ago, just to be cautious," he said after the company’s annual general meeting.

Source: Emirates24/7

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DUBAI RENTS FALL FASTEST IN PRIME

AREAS AS JOBS MARKET WEAKENS

Thursday, 26 APRIL 2016

Dubai rents could fall by as much as 5 per cent this year, with the biggest drops in prime areas including Dubai

Marina and Palm Jumeirah, according to Cluttons.

The consultancy said that rents in prime areas are likely to fall by up to 7 per cent, driven by a decline in demand

for luxury apartments. Overall, rents are expected to decline in the range of 3 to 5 per cent

Richard Paul, the head of residential valuations at Cluttons, said that average rents fell by 1.3 per cent over the

quarter and are 3.5 per cent lower year-on-year.

But high-end, one-bedroom apartments in Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah and DIFC have

dropped by almost 10 per cent year-on-year.

“Weaker demand as job creation rates slow is fuelling the declines in the rental market, which has remained

exceptionally resilient in the face of some very challenging local and macroeconomic conditions over the past 12

to 18 months," said Mr Paul.

Rents in more affordable areas such as Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Discovery Gardens and International City

remained flat, however, as renters sought out cheaper space.

Sale prices fell by 2.2 per cent in the first three months, the steepest quarterly drop for five years, said Cluttons.

Prices were 4.4 per cent lower year-on-year, with the biggest price declines for high-end villas – The Lakes at

Emirates Hills was the worst-performing area, reporting a year-on-year decline of 13.3 per cent, Cluttons said.

Mr Paul said that job losses, particularly in senior banking roles and in the oil and gas sector, had led to more

negative sentiment and weakened rental demand at the top end of the market.

Although premium apartment sale prices have held up compared to villas, transactions have slowed and Mr Paul

said that apartment prices in this segment could also begin to fall.

Although its forecast of a 3 to 5 per cent rental decline is similar to that predicted by JLL last week, views on

market sentiment differed.

JLL said last week that it expected prices to bottom out over the summer and a recovery in the second half of the

year, but Mr Paul said uncertainty over oil prices, which has a knock-on effect on banks’ liquidity, meant a

recovery in the short term was unlikely.

“As we move into the summer, we see the sentiment on oil prices not having a particularly favourable effect on

the market and there will maybe be fewer buyers. We feel [sales prices] have got a little bit further to go. I don’t

think we’re there quite yet."

The property portal Bayut reported a 3 per cent year-on-year decline in rents in Dubai during the first quarter of

this year and a 6 per cent fall in sale prices.

It said that demand for cheaper space in tertiary areas has created opportunities for investors, with lower prices

and stable rents in areas such as Dubailand and Dubai Sports City pushing rental yields as high as 9 per cent.






“Dubai’s suburbs are ideal for both new home buyers – who can still benefit from low prices – and investors, who

can enjoy impressive rental yields," it said.


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RETAIL, LEISURE AND GREEN SPACES AT

DIFC’S NEW GATE AVENUE DEVELOPMENT


Dubai International Financial Centre has unveiled details of Gate Avenue, its new Dh475 million development, the

biggest single infrastructure project it has launched since it opened 12 years ago.

The project – expected to be completed by the end of 2017 – is a vital component of DIFC’s strategy to triple in

size by 2024. It will create a new retail and leisure destination in the heart of Dubai’s financial district.

“This is a significant step towards accomplishing our 2024 growth strategy that paves the way for the sustained

development of DIFC,” said Essa Kazim, the DIFC governor.

“The project will be a significant value-add for professionals and residents currently working and living in the

district, and create an even more attractive proposition for prospective clients and tenants, as we build on our

already world-class infrastructure platform. This, in turn will elevate DIFC’s status as one of the most sought-after

destinations in the world.”

Dubai was recently named as the 13th most attractive financial centre in the world, ahead of such established

hubs as Frankfurt, Shanghai and Luxembourg.

The Avenue project was previously referred to as The Spine because it will link the main Gate and Village districts

in the north of DIFC to the big commercial and residential developments in the south. It will comprise 660,000

square feet of built-up area including retail, leisure, dining and green spaces.

It will also have an “emblematic mosque, a beacon of modern Islamic design, that will host a total of 500

worshippers daily and for Friday prayers”, DIFC said. The project has been designed by the British architectural

firm RMJM, which has worked on many significant jobs in the Middle East, including the original master plan for

the Saudi holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The cost will be met from the DIFC’s own resources.

DIFC said: “The project is set to emerge as a premium lifestyle destination offering vibrant and world-class

amenities to the financial centre’s diverse community of professionals, residents and visitors. Gate Avenue at DIFC

will also provide seamless connectivity to all building podiums within the district.

“The new destination will integrate the essential elements that make DIFC a remarkably rich international

environment, and boast more than 150 of the region’s most distinctive and sophisticated dining, shopping and

cultural experiences – all encapsulated in one iconic setting,” it added.

The Avenue will comprise three zones connected by an open-air promenade. North zone begins close to the Ritz-

Carlton hotel, and will feature exclusive retail offerings, high-end stores and luxury outlets.

“The central zone will feature a plethora of high-street brands, a variety of beautiful indoor restaurants as well as

sumptuous al fresco eateries. With easy connections to the Financial Centre metro station, the zone will also

comprise convenience retail stores to cater to the metro traffic,” DIFC said.

The south zone will be aimed mainly at residents of the DIFC district, and will provide community and family

facilities.






DIFC said that Gate Avenue would also host a variety of arts and cultural events, live music performances and

festivals.

Existing office buildings along the Avenue - including the under-construction US$1 billion tower Brookfield Place,

will be connected via promenade level walkways.

DIFC has grown rapidly since it was opened in 2004. Last year it reported its best-ever operating performance,

with a 27 per cent rise in new registrations. There are now some 1,445 firms operating in DIFC, employing just

short of 20,000 people.


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DUBAI’S EMAAR MALLS Q1 NET PROFIT

GROWS 22 PER CENT


Rising rents helped Emaar Malls’ first-quarter profit to jump by 22 per cent to Dh529 million, despite headwinds

facing the wider retail sector.

Rental income grew by 14 per cent to Dh833m.

Emaar Malls, which gained shareholder approval for a 10 per cent dividend at its annual general meeting last

week, also said that occupancy levels remained robust, standing at about 96 per cent across its malls.

Its main asset remains The Dubai Mall, which houses about 5.4 million square feet of the 5.8 million sq ft within

Emaar Malls’ current portfolio. A further 1 million sq ft is being added through an extension of The Dubai Mall,

and there are plans for 120 million sq ft of retail space at the new Dubai Creek Harbour district being developed

through a joint venture with Dubai Holding.

Further details on this project, which will include a huge new retail precinct linked to the Dubai Creek tower, are to

be revealed in the next few weeks.

“The retail sector has traditionally been one of the strongest contributors to the economy of Dubai," said

Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Malls. “Emaar Malls is adding significant value to the economy through

our assets that surpass industry averages in occupancy and visitor arrivals."

A report published by JLL this month found that Dubai’s retail supply pipeline increased by 235,000 sq metres

during the first quarter of this year, thanks largely to the completion of phase two of Meraas Holding’s City Walks

project. New mall space was also added in Al Wasl and Umm Suqeim.

It said that both rents and occupancy levels have held up over the quarter, with retail occupancy standing at 92

per cent of overall space.

Increased tourism numbers helped to shore up spending, but the strengthening dollar, lower oil prices and a

decline in trade had all weighed down market sentiment among spenders.

“Our outlook for the retail sector is positive for most part of this year, despite a flat performance during the first

quarter," said Craig Plumb, JLL Mena’s head of research.


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FIRST-QUARTER PROFIT RISES AT EMIRATES

REIT


First-quarter profit at the UAE’s only quoted real estate investment trust, Emirates Reit, rose by more than half as

the company netted rents from newly refurbished floors at Index Tower and its currently under-construction

school in Akoya.

In a company filing to Nasdaq Dubai, Emirates Reit reported that net profit for the first three months of this year

stood at US$14.3 million – up 57.8 per cent from the $9.1m it reported a year earlier.

The trust said that income from renting out its portfolio of offices, shops and schools in Dubai rose by 18.9 per

cent to $8.1m, mainly because of new lettings at its Index Tower office block and income from pre-letting its

20,800 square metres Jebel Ali school in Akoya.

The company also said it benefited from a 5 per cent year-on-year rental growth across its portfolio of eight

properties in Dubai, which includes Le Grande Community Mall in Dubai Marina, Gems World Academy in Al

Barsha South, the Office Park commercial building in Knowledge Village, as well as a cluster of three loft offices in

Media City.

The company said that occupancy across its portfolio stood at 77.4 per cent, up from 66 per cent last year, as it

continued to fit out and lease out floors it had acquired at Index Tower.

Emirates Reit said that the total value of its portfolio increased over the quarter by 2.8 per cent to $692.2m. It said

this was driven by progress made on the Jebel Ali school development and the continued fit-out work at Index

Tower. As a result, revaluation gains for the quarter amounted to $12.1m.

Finance costs also grew by 64.8 per cent to $2.3m from $1.4m a year ago, after the company increased its

borrowings to capitalise on a recent softening in the Dubai market.

Emirates Reit said its outstanding debt at the end of the first quarter was $251.5m, representing a debt-to-equity

ratio of 34.1 per cent, slightly lower than the same period a year earlier, after the company made $5.9m of

principal repayments during the quarter.

“During the first quarter we have generated a solid pipeline of tenants and closed new broker agreements to

accelerate the rental process going forward," said Sylvain Vieujot, the Emirates Reit chief executive. “We continue

to monitor the market for acquisitions in line with our overall strategy."

Emirates Reit was created in the 2010 trough of the Dubai property market and became the first Sharia-compliant

Reit to be incorporated at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Its first purchase was Building 24 in Dubai

Internet City.


Back to Index






ABU DHABI DEVELOPER MANAZEL REAL

ESTATE APPROVES BONUS SHARE AFTER

PROFIT RISE


Manazel Real Estate shareholders approved the distribution of a 4 per cent bonus share after the Abu Dhabi

developer reported a 29 per cent rise in full-year profit to Dh195 million.

The developer said the growth in earnings was driven by a restructuring strategy started in 2014. Revenues were

flat at Dh740m.

“This was a pivotal year for Manazel Real Estate as we advanced our commitment to the middle-income segment

in the UAE with housing and retail offerings," said Mohamed Al Qubaisi, the chairman. “As a pioneer in the middle-

income segment, we are uniquely posi-tioned to support this underserved sector and to support the government

of Abu Dhabi as it strives to make affordable housing more abundant in the years to come."

Manazel reported “strong demand" for its Al Reef 2 villas and growth in recurring revenues from its retail,

residential and district cooling assets.

Brokers said this month that the rental market in the capital was showing signs of fragmentation with softer

demand for higher-priced areas and a shortage of more afford-able homes.

In its Abu Dhabi Spring 2016 property market outlook, Cluttons said that housing budgets continue to hover at

the Dh100,000 to Dh150,000 mark – but average apartment rents start at Dh160,000 per year and average villa

rents are Dh270,000.

CBRE’s latest Abu Dhabi Marketview reported that although overall rents were flat, cheaper units achieved rental

growth of 2 per cent during the first quarter of the year.


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JACUZZI OR SAUNA? DAMAC LAUNCHES

HOTEL SPA VILLAS IN DUBAI’S AKOYA

OXYGEN


Damac is continuing its creative ways of attracting property buyers to Dubai with the launch of a collection of

villas containing a private garden spa.

The hotel spa villas are part of Damac’s Akoya Oxygen project, on the Umm Suqeim Road, and provide buyers

with a choice of Jacuzzi or sauna in the garden.

Prices start at Dh1.7 million, and they come fully furnished and serviced.

The Dubai developer, well known for offering customers sports cars and jet skis if they buy luxury apartments,

has been offering unique property concepts amid a soft Dubai market, with Akoya Oxygen set to feature the

Middle East’s first rainforest.

It is also selling Bugatti villas - where home owners can sit in their lounge and see their sports car parked in a

glass adjacent garage - within the development. These villas are priced in the region of Dh36m. Elsewhere, Damac

is building new luxury flats next to Dubai Canal with their own car lifts.

Developers have also been using increasingly generous terms in recent months to try and generate sales after

luxury properties lost about 10 per cent of their value in 2015, according to real estate consultancy Asteco.

Earlier this year, Damac announced a “capital guarantee" offer, which guarantees the value of a home for two

years after delivery. It was also offering investors a guaranteed annual return on advance payments during

construction of 3 per cent a year – twice the amount likely to be received from a bank – until completion.

The hotel spa villas are ideal for those who lead a hectic lifestyle and seek serenity and relaxation in their own

home, according to Niall McLoughlin, senior vice president, Damac Properties.

“This presents a unique offering for investors as it includes, as a standard feature, the spa facilities that are

usually only available when one customises their property, and we all know this is not necessarily cost-effective,"

he said.

Akoya Oxygen is set around the Tiger Woods-designed Trump World Golf Club, Dubai. It will also include a 1

million sq ft shopping and entertainment centre called Vista Lux, plus more than 2,000 villas.


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DUBAI’S AYKON CITY TO FEATURE GLASS-

FLOOR VIEWING CAPSULE AT NEARLY

1,000FT


Daredevils in Dubai will soon be able to test their nerve at a new adrenaline-fuelled attraction in Akyon City -

nearly 1,000 feet up.

Modelled on the experiences offered by the EdgeWalk at Toronto’s iconic CN Tower or the Sky Tower’s SkyWalk in

Auckland, Aykon Dare will put visitors “in harness” and take them to the edge of the tallest tower in the new

development.

It will be accessible from the 78th floor lounge and dining room, where visitors will walk out on to a landing

platform before beginning their ascent, where they are harnessed to the safety rail leading up the roofline to the

upper level.

Visitors can then step up and out into a glass-floored viewing capsule, at a height of 935 feet above Sheikh Zayed

Road, with panoramic views of Dubai.

Aykon, being developed by Damac Properties, comprises four towers which combine a five-star hotel

accommodation, luxury hotel apartments, residences and a boutique office space linked by a central podium with

retail, dining and entertainment.


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DUBAI HOTEL ROOM RATES SET GLOBAL

PACE


Hotel room rates in Dubai reported the highest first-quarter average among major destinations globally despite

decreases over the last few months.

The average daily rate in Dubai was US$234.88 during the first three months in constant currency figures, above

Paris, New York and Singapore which also had rates above $200, according to the research company STR. This

was despite rates in Dubai being 10.1 per cent cheaper than the same period last year.

It was the 12th consecutive year that Dubai has led the markets in the first quarter in US dollar constant currency.

“January through March is typically a slower time for other popular markets like New York, London and Paris,"

said Philip Wooller, STR’s Middle East and Africa director. “But these are peak months for Dubai, as temperatures

are more moderate, drawing in visitors from around the world."

Events such as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, the

Dubai World Cup, the Dubai International Boat Show, Gulfood and the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress also

helped to lift the rates while filling the rooms.

Dubai had 82,760 rooms at the end of March, according to STR.

The five-star Atlantis The Palm, which is among the largest number of rooms in Dubai to fill at 1,539 rooms,

expects to maintain the occupancy rate this year.

“Room rates are a bit under pressure, but that drives volume," said Serge Zaalof, the president and managing

director of Atlantis The Palm. “You can’t expect growth rates pre-2008 now or ever, because the business here is

becoming more mature."

While the UK, India, China and Russia are among its top source markets, inbound tourism from Iran to the

property has also increased over the past year, according to Mr Zaalof.

The average occupancy rate this year at the property is expected to increase marginally to 82 per cent, up from

81.3 per cent last year.

As part of its restructuring efforts, it laid off 30 people this year and 37 last year, Mr Zaalof said.

More rooms in the UAE are in the pipeline, especially in the mid-market segment, as investors show more

interest, according to some hotel operators.

“Supply is getting saturated at the top of the market, there’s demand for mid-tier hotels and it fills a gap from the

real estate perspective besides being a safer investment," according to Diane Mayer, a vice president and

spokeswoman for the extended stay brands Residence Inn by Marriott and Marriott Executive Apartments at

Marriott International.

Marriott International expects to open nine properties accounting for 2,000 rooms in the UAE by 2018.

A Residence Inn by Marriott is expected to open in Al Jaddaf area of Dubai in 2018, and a Marriott Executive

Apartment in Abu Dhabi in the third quarter besides another in Al Ain in 2020.






Marriott expects to open five properties this year, including a 298-room Renaissance Downtown Hotel, a 315-

room, five-star Marriott Hotel Downtown Abu Dhabi, and a 500-room Lapita Hotel, Autograph Collection, inside

the theme parks complex of Dubai Parks and Resorts coming up in Jebel Ali.


Back to Index






UMM AL QUWAIN SIGNS ON SOBHA

GROUP TO BUILD DH25BN TOURIST

RESORT ON AL SINNIYAH ISLAND

FRIDAY, 27 APRIL 2016

The government of Umm Al Quwain has signed a joint venture with Sobha Group to build a major new Dh25

billion tourism resort on Al Sinniyah Island.

The development, known as Firdous Sobha, would cover a 53 million square feet site on the island, which is 1.2

kilometres from the shoreline. A bridge is also planned to link the island to the mainland and highway network.

It will contain a minimum of “four to five" resorts and hotels, according to the Sobha Group chairman P N C

Menon, plus an 18-hole golf course, a separate par three course and an academy. It will also house boutique retail

units, two villa communities, low-rise apartments and a marina. A series of man-made canals and lagoons will also

be created around the site, with accompanying boardwalks.

The partners will each have a 50:50 stake in the joint venture, and it will be developed in phases. Detailed plans

for the resort have yet to be drawn up, but it will contain 24 million sq ft of built-up area, including low-rise

apartment blocks and luxury golf course and sea view villas.

A company will be appointed to handle master planning within the next two months, and detailed designs will be

ready in six to nine months. Mr Menon expects that ground will be broken on site within a year, and the first

phase will be completed within three years. Sobha Group will handle its construction.

Speaking at a signing ceremony held at the Umm Al Quwain Marine Club, the emirate’s Crown Prince, Sheikh

Rashid bin Saud, said: “We are targeting eco-tourism rather than high-rise buildings. We want to have this island-

friendly feeling to the emirate."

Mr Menon said this latest project takes Sobha’s development pipeline in the UAE up to $18.5bn within three

masterplanned communities – the other two being Mohammed bin Rashid City District One and the adjacent

Sobha Hartland site.

“We’re also under discussion for another project. Hopefully, within six months we will announce it. With that, I

think we are putting a cap to what we are doing in the UAE."

Julia Knibbs, an associate director and UAE head of research and consultancy at property consultancy Asteco, said

there was currently no comparable high-end mixed-use tourism and residential project in Umm Al Quwain,

although Emaar Properties had previously developed a mid-range community of 277 villas known as Mistral Villas.

“It’s a good thing for Umm Al Quwain because it will create something more attractive in that emirate, but at the

same time there’s a lot of new development occurring in competing emirates like Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and

Sharjah," she said, adding that the emirate’s economic base was not as strong as in neighbouring areas.


Back to Index






EMAAR BRINGS ‘MINI-DUBAI’ TO LONDON’S

HARRODS


Emaar Properties has brought a taste of Dubai to one the world’s most famous department stores as it attempts

to attract foreign investors amid the property slowdown in the emirate.

The Dubai developer, builder of the Burj Khalifa, is launching and exhibiting its latest project at Harrods in London

until mid-August.

Visitors can experience interactive video displays, and view large scale models of Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Hills

Estate and The Opera District.

The models include The Tower, which is expected to be taller than Burj Khalifa - currently the world’s highest -

when completed in Dubai Creek Harbour.

Emaar and Harrods estimates that a window display on the ground floor is passed by 75,000 pedestrians per day.

A report released yesterday by Cluttons said that sale prices in Dubai fell by 2.2 per cent in the first three months

of 2016, the steepest quarterly drop for five years.

Prices were 4.4 per cent lower year-on-year, with the biggest price declines for high-end villas, while premium

apartment sale prices had held up in comparison but transactions had slowed.

JLL said last week that it expected prices to bottom out over the summer and a recovery in the second half of the

year, but uncertainty remains with oil prices remaining in the $40 bracket.

It reported a 10 per cent year-on-year decline in house prices in the first quarter of 2016, which it blamed on the

strong dollar (to which the dirham is pegged) and lower oil prices.

Simon Barry, head of new residential developments at Harrods Estates, said that the store’s clients will be

extremely interested in what Emaar has to offer.

“Dubai offers one of the most compelling opportunities to invest in property in the world at present,” he said. “Just

as London is the financial capital of the European time-zone, so Dubai is the financial capital of the Middle East

time-zone.

“The Dubai property market is now stable, benefitting from huge inward investment from both the Middle East

and the Indian sub-continent, and its economy is anticipated to grow strongly leading up to the Dubai World Expo

in 2020, despite last year’s downturn in oil prices.”

One-bedroom apartments measuring 707 sq ft at Dubai Creek Harbour start at £184,135 (Dh986,311), a cost that

equates to £260 per sq ft. Harrods Estates said that prime Central London equivalent values are £2,000 per sq ft.

Dubai Land Department figures for the first three months of 2016 show transactions worth Dh55bn were

completed, which is a 14 per cent drop on the Dh64bn registered in the same period last year.

However, the volume of transactions completed was said to be 14 per cent higher at 12,568 as more affordable

homes have come on to the market.






Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar revealed last week that the company had “severely cut costs” due to

challenging market conditions, but was “pleasantly surprised” by sales activity.

Emaar Properties’ net profit in the fourth quarter of 2015 of $1.03bn was 1 per cent lower than in 2014, despite a

58 per cent uplift in sales to Dh3.8bn.


Back to Index






ALDAR GIVES UPDATE ON ABU DHABI

RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS


Aldar Properties said today that its projects in Abu Dhabi are progressing on schedule.

“Al Hadeel, Ansam, Al Merief, Nareel Island residential projects are all on track to be completed according to their

respective schedules with steady progress being made on foundational, structural and MEP work," it said in a

statement.

It added that work is progressing across all aspects of the West Yas development, Aldar’s first villa community on

Yas Island, including all precincts, marine, electrical, lighting and telecommunications work.

The construction of the Aldar Academies’ operated school on Yas Island is “nearing completion" and it will be

operational for the beginning of the 2016–2017 academic year.

Shams Meera on Reem Island, Aldar’s first mid-market project, has enabling teams on site for the shoring, piling,

and excavation of the three level basement. The tendering for the main contract is expected to be awarded

during this quarter, Aldar said.

Infrastructure development at Shams Abu Dhabi on Reem Island has seen the South Canal opened, while during

the previous quarter Aldar awarded contracts for the closed canal and pre-concept designs were submitted for

the central park. Furthermore, Aldar said “the east sandy beach has now been completed along with the Repton

School area".

At Al Raha Beach, Aldar said that following the completion of the phase one Al Dana infrastructure, substantial

works were completed on the second phase, which includes landscaping and road embankment, sewer works,

dredging works, storm water networks and district cooling.


Back to Index






DUBAI SET FOR ANOTHER FALL IN

PROPERTY PRICES, SAYS S&P


Average house prices in Dubai are likely to fall by another 10 per cent this year with no sign of improvement on

the immediate horizon, according to the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

The agency, which rates bonds issued by three UAE developers – Emaar Properties, Damac Properties and Aldar

Properties – said that the historically low price of oil and the strong dollar would continue to push property prices

down in Dubai throughout the year, while prices in Abu Dhabi will start to follow suit.

In a note published on Wednesday, S&P said that after falling between 10 and 13 per cent last year, it expected

similar falls this year with few signs of optimism for the year after.

“For the coming year we see no sign of market improvement for the UAE real estate sector, despite housing

affordability improving from the current price environment," said Sapna Jagtiani, the primary credit analyst for

S&P in Dubai.

“Pressures have arisen from declining oil prices, dampening the hiring and expansion plans of oil-exposed

companies; non-oil private companies’ business activities having softened; and the strong US dollar rendering

UAE real estate more expensive for international investors holding non-US dollar liquidities."

But S&P said that despite the negative outlook for the real estate market it did not expect to downgrade the

ratings on the three developers, which for Emaar and Damac stand at “stable" and for Aldar “positive".

“Generally we believe that our rated developers could absorb a 10 per cent drop in residential sales prices in

Dubai this year," Ms Jagtiani said.

The ratings agency said that it came up with its predictions based on reports from property brokers in the UAE as

well as from talking to the companies it rated rather than from any specific analysis of Dubai house prices.

S&P said that it did not foresee a rebound in oil prices until at least next year.

S&P’s predictions come as property brokers debate the timing of a potential property market recovery in Dubai.

This month, JLL reported that despite a 10 per cent fall in house prices in the year to the end of last month,

average prices in the city were close to bottoming out and values were likely to increase later this year.

But Cluttons reported that sales prices fell by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year and uncertainty over oil

prices, which has a knock-on effect on banks’ liquidity, meant a recovery in the short term was unlikely


Back to Index






UMM AL QUWAIN SIGNS ON SOBHA

GROUP TO BUILD DH25BN TOURIST

RESORT ON AL SINNIYAH ISLAND


The government of Umm Al Quwain has signed a joint venture with Sobha Group to build a major new Dh25

billion tourism resort on Al Sinniyah Island.

The development, known as Firdous Sobha, would cover a 53 million square feet site on the island, which is 1.2

kilometres from the shoreline. A bridge is also planned to link the island to the mainland and highway network.

It will contain a minimum of “four to five" resorts and hotels, according to the Sobha Group chairman P N C

Menon, plus an 18-hole golf course, a separate par three course and an academy. It will also house boutique retail

units, two villa communities, low-rise apartments and a marina. A series of man-made canals and lagoons will also

be created around the site, with accompanying boardwalks.

The partners will each have a 50:50 stake in the joint venture, and it will be developed in phases. Detailed plans

for the resort have yet to be drawn up, but it will contain 24 million sq ft of built-up area, including low-rise

apartment blocks and luxury golf course and sea view villas.

A company will be appointed to handle master planning within the next two months, and detailed designs will be

ready in six to nine months. Mr Menon expects that ground will be broken on site within a year, and the first

phase will be completed within three years. Sobha Group will handle its construction.

Speaking at a signing ceremony held at the Umm Al Quwain Marine Club, the emirate’s Crown Prince, Sheikh

Rashid bin Saud, said: “We are targeting eco-tourism rather than high-rise buildings. We want to have this island-

friendly feeling to the emirate."

Mr Menon said this latest project takes Sobha’s development pipeline in the UAE up to $18.5bn within three

masterplanned communities – the other two being Mohammed bin Rashid City District One and the adjacent

Sobha Hartland site.

“We’re also under discussion for another project. Hopefully, within six months we will announce it. With that, I

think we are putting a cap to what we are doing in the UAE."

Julia Knibbs, an associate director and UAE head of research and consultancy at property consultancy Asteco, said

there was currently no comparable high-end mixed-use tourism and residential project in Umm Al Quwain,

although Emaar Properties had previously developed a mid-range community of 277 villas known as Mistral Villas.

“It’s a good thing for Umm Al Quwain because it will create something more attractive in that emirate, but at the

same time there’s a lot of new development occurring in competing emirates like Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and

Sharjah," she said, adding that the emirate’s economic base was not as strong as in neighbouring areas.


Back to Index






INDIA’S TAJ HOTELS SETS SIGHTS ON PALM

JUMEIRAH ANEW


India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has set its sights on operating a property on the Palm Jumeirah once again.

The hotel operator, which had to scrap a project on the man-made island announced in 2006, will open its first

property there in 2019.

Its 325-room, five-star Taj Exotica Resort and Spa on the western crescent of The Palm will be owned by the

Dubai-based real estate company Arenco Group.

The Mumbai-based company announced the 207-room Vivanta by Taj at Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai last

year. The property is also expected to be ready in three years.

“The markets of focus for Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in the region are Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat,

Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar and Bahrain," said Chinmai Sharma, the chief revenue officer at Taj Hotels resorts and

Palaces.

“We are looking at expanding in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa, South East Asia and greater

China – essentially in regions that are important feeder markets into India or are important outbound markets

where Indians love to travel."

India will remain its focus market as domestic demand continues to grow, he said.

The company has 85 hotels in India, and 16 overseas including in the US, the UK, South Africa, Maldives, Sri Lanka,

Bhutan and Nepal.

The Tata Group, which owns Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, opened the 296-room, five-star Taj Dubai in Business

Bay last year.

The Indian Hotels Company and its subsidiaries is collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

Hotel room inventory in Dubai, meanwhile, continues to grow with an eye on Expo 2020.

Dubai’s Emaar Hospitality this week announced that it will open at least 10 hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai

within the next five years.

Emaar Hospitality operates four hotels and two serviced residences in Dubai under The Address Hotels and

Resorts brand and two hotels under Vida Hotels and Resorts.

Dubai had about 82,760 rooms as of the end of March, according to the research company STR.


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HOTEL LINKED TO AL MARYAH CENTRAL

MALL EXPECTED IN 2019


A new 200-room hotel is expected to open on Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island by 2019

The hotel will link up with the Al Maryah Central mall, which is expected to open in 2018. The operator is yet to be

finalised.

“It will compliment other hotels, the Galleria Mall and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi," said Hasan Jasem Al Nowais,

the vice president of business development at Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure.

A Four Seasons hotel is due to open on the island next month.

“China is definitely a source market for us since we opened the [Rosewood] hotel, whether from the hospitality

perspective or for medical tourism, but the [Arabian] Gulf is also on our radar," he said.

Rosewood Hotel, the first hotel to open on Al Maryah Island in 2013, draws business from Cleveland Clinic Abu

Dhabi to which it is interconnected.

“We have got 800 patients from 45 countries since the Cleveland Clinic opened [in May last year]," Mr Al Nowais

said. “People come for complex surgeries from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain."

Brands such as Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are expected to open at Al Maryah Central shoping mall when it opens

in 2018.

Abu Dhabi had 24,457 rooms at the end of March, according to the research company STR.

New tourism attractions are gradually coming to the market. At Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the third phase of

expansion will add three new rides and attractions over the next year, according to Jesse Vargas, the theme park’s

general manager.

The leading source markets for the park are the Arabian Gulf, India and China, he said.

The theme park, which is home to the world’s fastest roller coaster Formula Rossa with a top speed of 240kph,

currently has about 30 rides and attractions.

Cruise tourism is also on the rise. Abu Dhabi expects to record an increase of 9.6 per cent in cruise passengers

this season as new tourism attractions gather pace.

During the 2016-17 season, cruise liners are expected to deliver 250,000 passengers from 151 calls.

During the 2015-16 season, Abu Dhabi reported 228,000 passengers from 113 calls. MSC Cruises took to home

porting at the new Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal at Zayed Port. Cruise tourism in the city started in 2006.

Sir Bani Yas Island is home to a dedicated cruise beach stopover, the only one in Arabian Gulf.


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DUBAI TOURISM EASES HOLIDAY HOME

REGULATIONS


Home owners in Dubai will be able to rent their properties directly without having to go through an approved

operator after the emirate’s tourism agency updated regulations.

Home owners in Dubai can now apply for a holiday home licence if they meet all criteria, Dubai’s Department of

Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said.

They can rent only the full accommodation. Room rentals are prohibited.

Tenants who rent a property can also lease their accommodation as a holiday home with a short-term permit, if

they submit a no-objection certificate from their landlord and meet Dubai Tourism’s requirements.

The move could bring hundreds of rooms officially on to the market as the emirate aims to diversify its

accommodation offerings to host an expected 20 million tourists in 2020.

The short-term home rental website Airbnb has about 300 listings for entire homes – such as two-bedroom hotel

apartments and studios – on their portal for Dubai, where prices can go up to Dh3,500 a night. It also has dozens

of rooms and shared rooms listed.

The supply of new hotel rooms in the market during the past year has taken a toll on room rates, especially at

upscale hotels. The average room rate at Dubai’s four- and five-star hotels fell by 9.3 per cent year-on-year in

January to US$312.83, according to Hotstats data.

“In addition to the pressure on hotel demand as a result of plummeting oil prices, the upscale hotel sector in

[Dubai] is being equally affected by additions to supply," Hotstats said in a note.

“In addition to an oversupply in the luxury sector, there was significant growth in development in the mid-market

segment as Dubai attempts to increase its appeal to more price sensitive travellers."

More than 1,000 hotel rooms in the mid-market sector opened last year, it said.

Dubai had about 82,760 rooms by last month, according to the research company STR.

Professional holiday home operators in Dubai have to go through more detailed licensing requirements.

Earlier, home owners had to go through them to list their homes, as per the previous regulation issued in 2014.

Dubai Tourism will now allow for online payments.

“We continue to put in place the necessary market conditions to stimulate the growth of the tourism sector in a

safe, secure and controlled manner while ensuring that the high standards of quality for which Dubai is known

are maintained," said Khaled Bin Touq, the executive director of tourism activities and classification sector for

Dubai Tourism, in a statement.

To become a holiday home provider, the home owners need to meet quality standards, amenities, health and

safety, insurance necessities, code of conduct and wider community integration standards.






They would also be accountable for legislative requirements and complaint management policies, correct listing

to visitors, proper maintenance of their properties, and need to provide all guest services.

Dubai Tourism will inspect the registered homes and classify them as standard or deluxe.

As of February, Dubai Tourism had licensed 57 holiday home operators and 1,600 properties.


Back to Index






PARSONS BOSS SAYS GULF STILL

ATTRACTIVE FOR ENGINEERS EVEN IN A

SLOWDOWN


George Ball, the chief financial officer of US-based engineering consultancy Parsons, says one of the facts that

fascinates people in its home market is that the company’s biggest office is not its headquarters in Pasadena,

California, but its office in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s materially larger, and that was not the case many years ago. If you go back 30 years, probably half of the

company’s employees were in Pasadena," he says.

The fact that Parsons employs about 1,000 of its staff in Abu Dhabi, compared with about 600 in Pasadena, is a

sign of its strength in the local market. In total, about 5,000 of the company’s 15,000-strong workforce is based in

the Gulf. The region was responsible for about 20 per cent of its 2015 global revenues of US$3.2 billion

(Dh11.8bn) – a 4 per cent increase on 2015.

Mr Ball says that the proportion of revenue earned per employee is lower in the Gulf because of the nature of its

work. Contracts are usually commissioned under traditional design-bid-build routes, with designs usually

completed well before tenders are issued and contractors chosen. It typically handles labour-intensive elements

such as initial designs and the supervision of contractors’ work, while in the US and Canada its contracts are much

broader in scope, as it handles procurement through design-build contracts or is part of a consortium in public-

private partnerships (PPP). In short, projects that offer more “non-labour revenue".

Although it has offices in all of the GCC states, 4,000 of its 5,000 staff are based either in the UAE, Qatar or Saudi

Arabia, which are, respectively, its three biggest regional markets.

In the UAE, it has been joint programme manager (with Aecom) for stage one of the Etihad Rail project and is

supervising construction of the Dubai Canal, as well as overseeing infrastructure design of the Expo 2020 site. In

Qatar, it is a joint venture partner designing Qatar Rail’s Long Distance Rail project, as well as overseeing

infrastructure works at Lusail City and parts of the Doha Expressway project.

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, it has been had a presence for more than 40 years advising the Royal Commission for

Jubail and Yanbu on the development of Yanbu Industrial City since 1978. It has also been working since 2011 on

a major project to design and supervise infrastructure works for 11 huge sites across 10 cities covering 32 million

square kilometres of land as part of an initiative launched by the late King Abdullah in 2011 with a view to building

an extra 500,000 homes. It is also joint programme manager (with Systra) on the $10bn project for the creation of

Line 1 and 2 of Riyadh Metro.

“We do mostly horizontal infrastructure – everything on the ground and under," explains Mr Ball. “We’re not a

vertical infrastructure type of company."

He says that Parsons has “almost had a front seat in the efforts to create economic diversity over the last couple

of decades". Dubai has been the most successful in this regard, and continues to be a busy market. The rest of






the region has slowed by varying degrees, and Mr Ball says that after years of growing its headcount in the Gulf,

numbers began to plateau early last year and have now “come down slightly".

In Qatar, for instance, new orders have slowed down as the government cuts its budget to contend with lower

hydrocarbon revenue. “The programmes we are working on are long enough that we haven’t seen any change in

staffing levels, but it’s stopped growing."

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, new orders have virtually ceased over the past nine months as the government took

stock of spending ahead of last week’s National Transformation Plan. Moreover, like others working in the

kingdom, payments on some projects ground to a halt.

“In virtually every quarter in every area, there’s been some slowing – to the degree that if that were to continue for

the long term, that would be more troubling," he says. “If you’re a smaller firm and you don’t have a strong

balance sheet it’s a potentially dangerous time, but history suggests that it won’t persist indefinitely."

The lack of new awards has recently been highlighted by a number of publicly-listed contractors, including

Dammam-based Al Khodari and Egypt’s Orascom Construction. The former’s value of new awards has dried up –

from 1.1bn Saudi riyals (Dh1.07bn) in the first three months of 2015 to just 16 million riyals in the same period

this year, and the latter’s proportion of its backlog earned in the kingdom halved in 2015 to just over 10 per cent.

“We are working on mitigating our exposure there and are focused on executing our current projects, while

remaining selective on new opportunities," said Osama Bishai, the chief executive of Orascom Construction.

Yet Mr Ball says that the payment situation has improved over the past six to eight weeks, and he sees potential

opportunities relating to the National Transformation Plan.

“It’s something that I think rightly that people are very excited about, because it’s clearly needed. But to coin an

old phase, the difficulty is in the details."

Its opportunity may not come from housing, despite its involvement in designing infrastructure for large-scale

sites.

“The infrastructure is in place in many of these sites and it is under construction at others."

As a result, they are largely ready for developers to begin building on, and unless they are particularly complex

“there might not be as much of a role for a firm like Parsons", Mr Ball says.

Similarly, the two biggest airport projects it has worked on over the past decade have been the construction of

Doha’s Hamad International, which opened last year, and Abu Dhabi’s Midfield Terminal Building. However, once

the latter completes next year, it is unlikely that there will be many more projects of this scale over the next 10

years.

Mr Ball says he still expects work will come through the upgrade of smaller, regional airports and some capacity

expansion at the biggest sites.

“The substance, size and capability of the airlines in the Middle East is extraordinary. All you need to do is look at

who’s buying the equipment," he says.

Similarly, he expects more work from rail projects, despite the decision by Etihad Rail to suspend its Stage 2

expansion, which is the key stage that links Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai, as well as the wider GCC network. He

argues that although Etihad Rail is experiencing a pause while deliberations over its structure and timing take

place, it seems “inevitable that it will move ahead".

He shares a similar view about Riyadh Metro which, at about $23bn, is the world’s biggest mass transit project.

Despite talk of a suspension or rescheduling, he says the amount of time and money invested so far means that

stopping the project would not only waste billions, but leave the city without an asset to show for it.






Indeed, right across the Gulf, he argues that the scale and complexity of projects being undertaken means that

even if the region entered a period of no growth or slight decline, it offers more exciting prospects than other

parts of the world.

“Virtually every major city in some way or form is considering either light rail or metro. As populations grow and

the density of urban centres increase, it’s inevitable that some form of mass transit will unfold."

Similarly, its expertise in public-private partnerships may be of use if the region’s government does decide to

adopt them. It is something that has been talked about for decades, but Dubai’s recent passing of a PPP law, and

expectations that both Oman and Qatar will soon follow suit, means that it is looking increasingly likely that this is

a method of procurement whose time has finally arrived.

“I would say it’s inevitable that this would be a delivery model that would take hold over time," says Mr Ball. “If I

were to put myself in the position of a client or an owner, it’s a faster model in which to deliver a product and it’s

also cheaper."

In a research note published on Saudi’s National Transformation Plan last week, economists from Abu Dhabi

Commercial Bank agreed.

“We believe that measures such as PPP programmes, especially to increase investment in critical infrastructure,

will be vital in supporting GDP growth outlook," it said, pointing to the fact that the kingdom’s existing

infrastructure falls well short of need in areas like utilities, housing and transport.

“With Saudi Arabia’s population growing at 2 to 3 per cent per annum, infrastructure investment requirements

remain substantial," it said. “Structural measures to support private investment will be vital to meeting medium-

term economic objectives."


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MAURITIUS TEMPTS UAE PROPERTY

BUYERS WITH AN EXOTIC LIFE


The African island of Mauritius has become the latest exotic destination to attempt to attract investors from the

UAE.

Tucked away behind the main stands at the recent Cityscape Abu Dhabi, Royal Park, a planned new resort

covering 100 hectares close to the Mauritian capital of Port Louis was pitching its development to UAE buyers.

The resort, which will include between 500 and 1,000 homes, is being built in four phases with a clubhouse due

for completion in two months and the first 30 flats – which have all been sold – due for completion in November.

Another 250 land plots have been sold to Mauritians, some of whom have already com¬pleted their homes and

are living there.

The developers, also known as Royal Park, hope to capitalise on a daily, six-hour A380 service from Dubai to

Mauritius, which started in 2013 and has led to a subsequent increase in tourist numbers from the Gulf.

The Royal Park team has foc¬used its marketing efforts on the island’s pristine white sand beaches, subtropical

rainforest and culture.

“It’s a privilege to live in Mauritius," says Brett Gregory-Peake, Royal Park’s chief executive. “We’re not an atoll. We

are a big destination, albeit an island. We have large townships you can go into, bars and shops. We’re a lively

destination and equally we have parts of the island that is this tropical adventure destination. You can take your

pick." The strategy is bearing fruit. Mr Gregory-Peake says it has already sold three off plan homes to UAE buyers.

The development includes flats, town houses and villas starting from US$450,000 up to $3 million. For that you

get a ¬fully furnished home with access to swimming pools, a beachfront and a clubhouse. You can either live in it

or rent it out.

The prices are slightly lower than those on the Eden Island development in the Seychelles, which is heavily

marketing a similar island paradise proposition to UAE buyers. There, flats start at $500,000 and it is only a four-

hour flight away.

Mr Gregory-Peake says a comparison between the tiny archipelago and Mauritius – an island with a population of

more than 1 million and the highest per-capita GDP in Africa – is misleading. “The only reason the Seychelles is

seen as our competition is perception," he says. “We’re a very different proposition."

Q&A

What kind of return can I expect on a Royal Park property?

On some stock, the developer is offering a rental guarantee of a net 5 per cent for five years.

Where is Mauritius?

Mauritius is a small, mountainous and subtropical island in the Indian Ocean, 800 kilometres east of Madagascar.

Is it safe?






It has a population of Hindus, Christians and Muslims and is renowned for its low levels of civil unrest and low

crime levels. The country has a democratic government.

Who buys property there?

The British represent 16 per cent of the buyer market in real estate in Mauritius. About 35 per cent are French-

speaking. About 25 per cent are South Africans.

What about tax?

There’s 15 per cent income tax but there is no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax.

Will I be able to get a visa to live there?

The development is in an area where the Mauritian government grants residency for anyone investing more than

US$500,000 in residential real estate.

What about jet lag?

There’s no time difference between the UAE and Mauritius.


Back to Index






With 30 years of Middle East experience,

Asteco’s Valuation & Advisory Services

Team brings together a group of the Gulf’s

leading real estate experts.

Asteco’s network of offices in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai,

Northern Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia not only provides a deep understanding of

the local markets but also enables us to undertake large

instructions where we can quickly apply resources to meet

clients requirements.

Our breadth of experience across all the main property

sectors is underpinned by our sales, leasing and

investment teams transacting in the market and a wealth

of research that supports our decision making.

John Allen BSc MRICS

Director, Valuation & Advisory

+971 4 403 7777

[email protected]

Julia Knibbs MSc

Associate Director – Research and Consultancy

+971 4 403 7789

[email protected]

VALUATION & ADVISORY

Our professional advisory services are conducted by

suitably qualified personnel all of whom have had

extensive real estate experience within the Middle

East and internationally.

Our valuations are carried out in accordance with the

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and

International Valuation Standards (IVS) and are

undertaken by appropriately qualified valuers with

extensive local experience.

The Professional Services Asteco conducts throughout

the region include:

• Consultancy and Advisory Services

• Market Research

• Valuation Services

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Asteco has established a large regional property sales

division with representatives based in UAE, Saudi

Arabia, Qatar and Jordan.

Our sales teams have extensive experience in the

negotiation and sale of a variety of assets.

LEASING

Asteco has been instrumental in the leasing of many

high-profile developments across the GCC.

ASSET MANAGEMENT

Asteco provides comprehensive asset management

services to all property owners, whether a single unit

(IPM) or a regional mixed use portfolio. Our focus is

on maximising value for our Clients.

OWNER ASSOCIATION

Asteco has the experience, systems, procedures and

manuals in place to provide streamlined

comprehensive Association Management and

Consultancy Services to residential, commercial and

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and encompass everything required for the successful

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