Empire International Investments officially launches its AED800 M Waterfront Residence in Abu Dhabi

Projected as the ultimate landmark of luxurious living, the 57 storey development is located adjacent to the Quad Building - the focal point of the whole island. Due for completion by mid-2009, apartments are available on a 99-year lease.

The unveiling took place today at a press conference held in Abu Dhabi. In attendance were Haytham Al-Tajir, Director of Empire International Investment and Andrew Chambers, Managing Director of Asteco, as well as other company representatives and guests.

Unveiling the project, Al-Tajir explained his company's philosophy towards property development, stating: "Empire is a growing organization focused on delivering value to our customers and partners. We are an investment company at heart and we are therefore more interested in long term prospects rather than short term return."

"We chose to develop our first project in Abu Dhabi for a variety of reasons. As the UAE's capital, the city is very established and economically stable. We believe that Abu Dhabi's ultimate potential has not yet been tapped and that over the next five years the Emirates' real economic power will emerge. We are already well into planning our second project, a hospitality development in Dubai which will be announced soon."

Abu Dhabi has emerged amongst the most favored real estate development destinations in the Middle East as it offers a huge market that remains largely untapped. Expected to attract over AED 500billion in investments, over the coming decade, the emirate is on the threshold of a real estate boom.

"We have seen an increase in demand for premium residential apartments in Abu Dhabi and although many projects are coming on stream, residents are not satisfied with the quality, service standards, room sizes and facilities provided. After carefully studying Empire's plans for Waterfront Residence we immediately saw that the project will fill a gap and will set new quality and design standards in Abu Dhabi," commented Chambers. "Waterfront Residence has been modeled along the most contemporary trends in high living, with a paramount focus on high quality, right from the use of basic material to the minutest finishing."

The architecturally unique 230 meter tower designed as a visual interplay of splayed vertical layers converging and jutting into the sky with asymmetrical grandeur is being billed as the most prestigious residential address in the Shams development would house around 100 thousand residents. Being built at the estimated cost of AED 25 billion, Shams Abu Dhabi spread across seven million square meters is amongst the most ambitious, fascinating and awe inspiring reality developments in the entire Middle East.

"In addition to the most idyllic view of the Arabian Gulf and the most breath taking perspectives of the entire Shams development, Waterfront Residence offers a unique, investor friendly payment structure with a prestigious Abu Dhabi based financial institution which will soon be announced," continued Al-Tajir. "Basically, we have planned the development to its last detail as an exclusive residential destination. The development is envisaged to cater to the huge demand for premium residential apartments in Abu Dhabi. Its strategic location on the island easily connects it to all the key nerve centers of Abu Dhabi making it a rare investment opportunity that guarantees good rental income and return on investment."

Waterfront Residence incorporates state-of-art leisure facilities like a luxurious pool and sun deck, spa facilities, fitness club and exercise domain, landscaped gardens, community centre, terrace café and a roof top helipad.

Exclusively styled, the spacious one, two, three and four bedroom apartments come in unit sizes of 990, 1,390, 1,825 and 2,785 square feet respectively. Epitomizing luxury at its best are the sprawling townhouses spread over 4,875 square feet. All the apartments come with fully-fitted ergonomic kitchens. Residents also have the option of upgrading their bathroom and kitchen packages.

Conceptualized by world renowned architectural and design firm AEDAS, the structural engineering contract has been awarded to Whitby & Bird, while tenders for the construction contract are currently being prepared. Real estate and property services leader Asteco has been appointed for apartment sales. Norton Rose the leading international law firm is the legal consultant.

The tremendous growth in key sectors is creating a huge demand for modern infrastructure, which is projected to rise exponentially as the emirate increasingly focuses on diversifying its oil based economy. Abu Dhabi's status as the fastest growing economy in the world, at 11 percent annually, a combined GDP of $1.5 trillion, with UAE's largest population of 1.6 million and about 85 percent of UAE's land area are the factors considered to catalyze a better return on investment.