Sheffield Real Estate steps into commercial realty

Highlighting the features and the rationale behind the entry into the office space market, a senior official of Sheffield Real Estate said the new project is being developed in the backdrop of a marked rise in interest in commercial realty asset class world over as well as in Dubai's freehold space.

Mr. Abuali Malik Shroff, Managing Director, Sheffield Real Estate, said:

"Commercial real estate has always stood out as a stable investment globally. We see a continuing surge in interest in this segment in Dubai and Corporate Tower has been conceived in this backdrop to offer a salient opportunity to investors to maximise returns."

"Available data suggest that there is significant increase in the uptake of land for new commercial realty projects in Dubai which aligns well with the traditional global real estate investment scenario where a major share of investment is driven to this asset class in pursuit of higher returns, " he said.

Corporate Tower will be spread over a built up area of 1.1 million square feet on a prime location in Jumeirah Lake Towers community promoted by Nakheel.

The project will comprise a 45-floor tower and a 10-floor twin offering office units in the range of 1,300 square feet. The development in the new business and residential district of Dubai flanking Sheikh Zayed Road will have many USPs including structured cabling, wireless internet, business centre, and a gymnasium for the health conscious.

Mr. Abuali Shroff said Sheffield has always maintained an investor-centric focus in its strategy targeting to derive value from across the real estate chain. "Corporate Tower is yet another instance of our focus on creating investment avenues that are in line with prevalent economic scenario. We are confident that the project will attract significant attention from investors considering that there is a shortage of office space in Dubai compared to the rapid growth in business and economy."

Corporate Tower is a significant component of Sheffield's AED 5 billion investments planned in the free hold space of Dubai for 2007 out of which AED 1.5 billion has already been committed. "We believe that there is a significant focus now on commercial property, including retail in Dubai with rental returns forecast in the range of 15-17 per cent per annum, which is way above the rates in developed markets globally."

He said the rising interest in commercial real estate was strong from both investors as well as end-users in Dubai, the latter particularly in the backdrop of the high rentals for office space.

Corporate Tower is Sheffield's seventh project in Dubai, including its flagship AED 1.4 billion project Marina 101. At 101 floors and 412 meters, Marina 101, situated at the Dubai Marina, is the tallest hotel apartment tower in the world and is expected to be complete by the 1st quarter of 2010. Marina 101 has a world-class hotel component to the project, managed by Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) which will occupy the first 32 floors. The residential project offers an assured 75 per cent returns on its net revenue on the management from the property after possession.

Sheffield also recently announced handover of Supreme Residency, located in the heart of the Central Business District in the International City. Currently, the real estate major is firming up investment plans in various other residential projects. A retail mall is also in the pipeline which will be unveiled soon. Sheffield will also soon be moving to its new premises at the Burj Business Hub by the end of October 2007 in line with its expansion plan aiming at delivering mortgage solutions as well as facilitate management of other projects.