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Dubai's Al Barari villa prices fall by 30%
Prices of luxury villas in the Al Barari Development in Dubailand have dropped by 30% in the past one year due to the downturn in the real estate sector, Emirates Business has reported. Mohanad Alwadiya, director of Harbor Real Estate said prices for the villas now range between Dhs12m and Dhs20m compared to last year's Dhs15m-Dhs30m.
LAVA to design Masdar city centre
The UAE has selected Australia-based LAVA Architects to design the city centre for the Abu Dhabi Masdar project. LAVA's winning design features a five-star hotel, central plaza, convention centre, entertainment complex, and shops. The design also includes a number of integrated sustainable design features, such as solar 'umbrellas' that are modelled after flowers that open up during the day and close up at night to keep the plaza cool, adaptive building facades that adjust to capture sunlight, and wall surfaces that adapt to changing temperatures.
Hamptons International to open office in Egypt
Hamptons International, a UK-based real estate services company, has announced the expansion of its global network with the opening of a new sales office in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The new sales office will showcase Hamptons' global property portfolio and offer customers an array of residential and commercial real estate options, the firm has said.
Labour strike breaks out in Dubai
Thousands of labourers took part in strikes at two worksites in Dubai today to demand higher wages from their employer, The National has reported. Workers from Al Habtoor Engineering halted work on the company's sites in Deira and the Jebel Ali port area. The workers also blocked traffic for a brief time on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Damac completes two towers
Damac Properties has announced that two of its projects at Business Bay have officially reached the top level. At a special ceremony, both Business Tower and XL Tower were officially 'topped off' at floors 18 and 19 respectively. This brings the total of completed structural buildings announced by Damac Properties this year so far to four, along with Smart Heights at Tecom and Lago Vista at IMPZ. The company's twin tower development Park Towers at nearby DIFC is also expected to reach the top floor within the next six weeks, according to a company statement.
Saraya halts sales of RAK project
Omar Agha, Managing Director of Saraya Development Group, has said the company has temporarily suspended sales of its $1.4bn project in Ras Al Khaimah due to lack of availability of electricity and a downturn in real estate sector, Emirates Business has reported. Saraya has neither cancelled the project nor put it on hold indefinitely, he noted. The developer has given a 100% refund to all its investors in the project, he added.
Qatar Entertainment City awards infrastructure contract
Qatar Entertainment City (QEC) has awarded a QR100m contract to HBK Contracting to complete QEC's phase II of the infrastructure within 18 months. The second phase infrastructural work includes the construction of roads, sewage network, water systems, main irrigation system including a connecting network for fire fighting. HBK will also establish the electrical work, as well as the construction of six bridges over the water canal and implementing a traffic system.
Developer to restore Cairo's crumbling 'Parisian' centre
Egypt-based developer Al Ismailia for Real Estate Investments plans to raise $80m from investors to buy and restore crumbling 19th century buildings in the centre of Cairo, Bloomberg has reported. The company has so far raised EGP315m ($57m) and bought 20 buildings in an area originally designed to look like Paris. It aims to add 12 more properties. Al Ismailia, whose shareholders include Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris and Saudi private-equity firm Amwal al Khaleej, will start raising funds from investors in Egypt and other Middle East countries starting in October, CEO Karim Shafei said. The process will take two or three months, he said.
Carillion to build gas cities in Qatar
John McDonough, CEO of Carillion, the UK's second-biggest construction firm, said the company plans to start building 'gas cities' in Qatar next year, as part of the state's $130bn infrastructure plan, Bloomberg has reported. "It will be built around energy and industrialisation, with us building roads and offices among other things, gas cities if you like," he said.
Fitch affirms QREIC at 'BBB+'
Qatar Real Estate Investment Company (Alaqaria) has received from Fitch Ratings a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) and senior unsecured ratings at 'BBB+', respectively, and its short-term IDR at 'F2'. The affirmation is attributed to 'Alaqaria's low counterparty risk, as the majority of its projected income is due to come from strong credits'. Alaqaria's activities to the State of Qatar are factored into its ratings, given its close business ties with Qatar Petroleum (QP) and the importance of QP's projects.
Depa H1profit rises
Dubai-based Depa, the interiors contractor for Burj Dubai, has reported a 65% rise in first-half profit to Dhs91.7m ($25m). "We continue to diversify revenues away from Dubai and the hospitality sector and focus on infrastructure which is countercyclical," Depa's CEO Mohannad Sweid said.
Dubai land sales at Dh126.25m
According to Dubai's Land Department, the total value of land transactions in Dubai peaked yesterday at Dhs126.25m, of which sales exceeded Dhs58.11m. However, in a sign that the market continues to be slow, just three sales were registered, of which the most valuable was a Dhs4.9m plot in Al Muteena.
Dubai office rents lowest for two years
Office rents in Dubai have fallen to their lowest level in two years, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle. Rents for the most expensive office space fell 25% in the second quarter compared to Q1, following a 45% drop in the first three months of 2009. Excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre, annual rents average Dhs225 ($61.3) a square foot, the lowest since mid-2007. With an estimated 25 million square feet of office space due to come onto the market by the end of 2011, prices are expected to fall further.
Barwa increases Al-Imtiaz stake
Qatari company Barwa Real Estate has increased its capital in Kuwait's Al-Imtiaz Investment to 24.5%, Reuters has reported. The developer received an official letter from Al-Imtiaz specifying the allotment of Barwa's subscribed shares in the capital increase.
Emaar MGF to invest in Indian project
Emaar MGF, a joint venture between Dubai's Emaar Properties and India's MGF Developments, is to invest over $82m to develop the Windermere Estates, an 84-acre township at the capital of India's Meghalaya state Shillong. The project comprises villas, plots, retail space and a hotel, and will be launched August 25, the developer said.
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