Category: News

Pearlz by Danube gets 100% sold out on day one of its participation at Expo 2020

Danube’s reliability as a developer has gone up several notches higher with the continuous back to back deliveries of projects on time. It has also helped reinforce Danube Properties’ reputation as one of the most successful developers in the UAE with the highest launch-to-delivery ratio.

Dubai, 28^th March 2022: Danube Properties, affordable housing pioneer and one of the most dynamic and popular private real estate developers in the UAE, has announced that its recently launched residential project “Pearlz” has received massive response at Expo 2020 in Dubai. A large number of Indian expats thronged the ‘Danube Properties’ pavilion with great interest in this expo.

Danube has sold out 100% of the inventory of Pearlz that offers 300 residential units coupled with a number of retail and recreational facilities with a development value exceeding Dh300 million on day 1 of its participation at this expo. Danube Properties has also recently delivered its ambitious project ‘Lawnz’ to its 1000 plus property buyers.

Mr Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group said, “While Expo 2020 has successfully carried forward its mission of connecting people I am happy to inform everyone that one of my personal favorites “Pearlz” has received overwhelming response at this expo. We have successfully sold out the complete launched inventory of the project. At Danube Properties our belief since the starting has been to deliver projects on time without any compromise on quality aspects. While sticking to our commitments has always given us good results, I take this opportunity to thank all those who have been involved and have made contributions in making ‘Pearlz’ a huge success for Danube.”

Making the deal more lucrative for Indian investors, Danube Properties has announced that it will provide fully furnished apartments at ‘Pearlz’ to Indian homebuyers who are very keen on picking up a second home in Dubai. The project will be developed in Al Furjan area close to Ibn Battuta mall with the easiest access to Sheikh Zayed Road and Mohammed Bin Zayed Highway. The affordable homes come with Danube Properties’ trend-setting 1 percent payment plan that helps middle income tenants and end-users to easily acquire their dream homes.

Some of the salient features of the Pearlz project includes the foldable wall-mounted beds – that converts the living into a bedroom at night, when suspended from the wall. This creates an extra bedroom, converting a one-bedroom hall apartment into a two-bedroom apartment and a studio to a one-bedroom apartment. So, the customer gets a two-bedroom apartment, when paying for a one-bedroom apartment. Among other perks, a three-bedroom apartment comes with a private pool, three parking spots and a balcony – something that is not available in most villas and townhouses. Moreover, the two- and three-bedroom at ‘Pearlz’ comes with store area, laundry as well as power room. It has its own chillers and chilled water system. The project is located near the metro station.

‘Pearlz’ also offers a wide range of world-class amenities such as anti-current swimming pool, kids pool, toddler pool, health club, party hall, outdoor seating, shaded Yoga area, Jacuzzi, sauna, barbeque area, kids outdoor play area, jogging track, outdoor party area, landscape with water features. Other highlight of this project in terms of amentias which cannot be found with any other developer in the region include a doctor on call, kid’s daycare with nanny on board and smart home, smart office with a personal secretary which will revolutionise how gated community projects are developed in the region.

Pearlz is the first real estate project that has been launched in the UAE in 2022 – and the second project by Danube Properties to be launched within five months after launching the Dh475 million Skyz project in Arjan in October 2021.

Enthused by the overwhelming response to its properties, Danube Group is on a spree of launching new projects. The properties of this Dubai-based multi-billion-dollar conglomerate make for an attractive investment. After receiving huge success in “Skyz”, ‘Lawnz’ and “Pearlz”, Danube Properties has further set its sights on new projects in Dubai Marina and Downtown—two of the city’s most prominent freehold clusters.

The Dubai property market continues to be led by end-users, driven on the back of a host of economic reforms along with the lowering of interest and mortgage rates, loan-to-value ratios, Golden Visa and the 100 per cent ownership rights to expats to live, work or trade in Dubai. While all these policies have helped build confidence in the expats, the successful handling of the pandemic makes the UAE a very safe haven for investors interested in setting up their businesses here.

The Expo 2020, which is coming to a close in a week’s time, has given a big boost to the economy of the UAE. While the UAE continues to be one of the safest countries in the world, the rulers further intend to keep up this momentum by creating more opportunities in sustaining this growth and fuelling a massive real estate boom ahead. The property prices over the past six months have gone up by 30-35 per cent, still the property in Dubai is cheaper compared to many other major international hubs such as Hong Kong and London.

https://danubeproperties.com/portfolio/dreamz/With 1,000 residential units, Pearlz will have amenities like Doctor on call, kids daycare with nanny on board and smart home, smart office with a personal secretary and anti current swimming pool, which will revolutionize the way gated community projects are developed in the region.

Date: Dubai, UAE, March 20, 2022

News Highlights

1. With 500,000 square built-up area and development value exceeding Dh300 million, Pearlz comes with value-added features that offers the best value for money;

2. Pearlz is the first real estate project to be launched in the UAE in 2022 – and the second project by Danube Properties to be launched within five months after launching the Dh 475 million Skyz project in Arjan in October 2021.

3. With Pearlz, Danube Properties development portfolio exceeds 8,000 units, with a combined value exceeding Dh5.3 billion.

4. It has so far delivered 4,556 units with a combined sales value of Dh3.63 billion – nearly two-thirds of the entire portfolio value.

Danube Properties, the UAE-based affordable housing pioneer and one of the most dynamic and popular private real estate developers in the UAE, today announces the launch of Pearlz, a residential project offering 1,000 residential units and a number of retail and recreational facilities with a development value exceeding Dh300 million.

The project will be developed in Al Furjan area close to Ibn Battuta mall with the easiest access to Sheikh Zayed Road and Mohammed Bin Zayed Highway. The affordable homes come with Danube Properties’ trend-setting 1 percent payment plan that helps middle income tenants and end-users to easily acquire their dream homes.

Pearlz is the first real estate project to be launched in the UAE in 2022 – and the second project by Danube Properties to be launched within five months after launching the Dh475 million Skyz project in Arjan in October 2021.

With Pearlz, Danube Properties development portfolio now exceeds 8,000 units, with a combined development value exceeding Dh5.3 billion. It has so far delivered 4,556 units with a combined sales value of Dh3.63 billion – nearly two-thirds of the entire portfolio value.

“We launched our second residential project Pearlz within five months of launching Skyz in October last year. This demonstrates the return of investors in Dubai’s real estate market and our firm conviction on the strong rebound of Dubai’s real estate market from the pandemic,” Mr Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, says.

“The launch of Pearlz is in response to growing demand for affordable quality homes in Dubai, as the market remains under-served. We have carefully designed each home to offer maximum value per square feet, keeping in mind the need for space in each family. Pearlz offers the best value per square feet that money can fetch.

“We are a firm believer in the long-term sustainability of Dubai’s real estate marker – this is more evident now, especially following the pandemic that halted all commercial activities in the real estate market for a short period during the lockdown in 2020. The market rebounded early last year, despite the second COVID-19 wave. However, international investor confidence returned faster than expected.”

Some of the salient features of the Pearlz project includes the foldable wall-mounted beds – that converts the living into a bedroom at night, when suspended from the wall. This creates an extra bedroom, converting a one-bedroom hall apartment into a two-bedroom apartment and a studio to a one-bedroom apartment. So, the customer gets a two-bedroom apartment, when paying for a one-bedroom apartment.

Among other perks, a three-bedroom apartment comes with a private pool, three parking spots for a 3bhk apartment and a balcony – something that is not available in most villas and townhouses. It also offers world-class amenities such as anti current swimming pool, kids pool, toddler pool, health cub, party hall, outdoor seating, shaded Yoga area, jacuzzi, sauna, barbeque area, kids outdoor play area, jogging track, outdoor party area, landscape with water features, the highlight of this project in terms of ammenties which cannot be found with any other developer in the region are, a doctor on call, kids daycare with nanny on board and smart home, smart office with a personal secretary and an anti current swimming pool, which will revolutionaze how gated community projects will be developed in the region.

Two- and three-bedroom comes with store area, laundry as well as power room. It has its own chillers and chilled water system. The project is located near the metro station.

“The Dubai real estate market is looking up and the investor confidence is back, the government has eased all Covid-19 restrictions and PCR testing is no required to enter and exit Dubai which has made connectivity a breeze amongst its residents and investors alike,” Sajan said.

“This particular project is a bit different from the other projects and will have many luxurious elements in it including multiple amenities, the developer has been tight lipped about the same as the huge announcement will create ripples in the market.”

Danube Project Development Factsheet

Danube Projects	Residential Units	Sales Value	Status
Dreamz	171 Townhouses	Dh500 million	Delivered
Glitz Residence I	151 Units	Dh187million	Delivered
Glitz Residence II	151 Units	Dh188 million	Delivered
Glitz Residence III	358 Units	Dh350 million	Delivered
Starz Tower	454 Units	Dh300 million	Delivered
Glamz Residence	426 Units	Dh270 million	Delivered
Miraclz Tower	599 Units	Dh400 million	Delivered
Resortz Tower	444 Units	Dh300 million	Delivered
Bayz	463 Units	Dh450 million	Delivered
Jewelz	463 Units	Dh300 million	Under Construction
Lawnz	1,064 Units	Dh550 million	Delivered
Elz	275 Units	Dh130 million	Delivered
Mosque	One	Social Initiative	Delivered
Wavez	434 Units	Dh200 million	Under Construction
Olivz	741 units	Dh400 million	Under Construction
Skyz	808 units	Dh475 million	Launched
Pearlz	1,000 units	Dh300 million	Announced
Total 17 Projects	8,002 Units	Dh5.3 billion	Construction/ Delivery

Danube Properties, the UAE-based affordable housing pioneer and one of the most dynamic and popular private real estate developers in the UAE, has announced that its recently launched Skyz Tower project has been 60% sold out.

The affordable homes at Skyz Tower come with Danube Properties’ trend-setting 1 percent payment plan that helps middle income tenants and end-users to easily acquire their dream homes.

The most desirable project Skyz Tower will be developed by Danube Properties at the Arjan master-planned community in Dubai, close to the Miracle Gardens, opposite to Motor City, Dubai Hills Estates and Dubai Hills Estate Mall with the easiest access to Mohammed Bin Zayed highway. A residential project with a development value of Dh475 million, Skyz Tower is a Mediterranean-themed high-rise residential tower with elegantly-designed apartments, retail outlets and recreational facilities with a development value exceeding Dh475 million.

Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group said, “It’s truly encouraging that we have successfully sold out 60% of our project Skyz Tower within just a couple of months of its launch. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have been involved and have made contributions in making this project a huge success for us. We are committed to launch state-of-the-art projects for our valued customers and our belief since the starting has been to deliver projects on time without any compromise on the aspect of quality.”Enthused by the overwhelming response, Danube Properties has further set sights on new projects in Dubai Marina and Downtown – two of the city’s most prominent freehold clusters. The launch of Skyz Tower comes 18 months after Danube Properties successfully launched its project, Olivz last year. Danube Properties has recently delivered Bayz and Miraclz and all these projects have been appreciated by all the investors who had bought units in them.

Further, Danube Properties is all set to deliver another project Lawnz which will take the number of its delivered units to 4,281 with sales value exceeding Dh3.5 billion by the end of this year. This will help to reinforce Danube Properties’ reputation as one of the most successful developers in the UAE with the highest launch-to-delivery ratio.

Danube Properties, part of the Danube Group, made its foray into the real estate market in June 2014, by launching the Dh500 million 171 townhouses at Al Furjan. Since then, it continued to expand its development portfolio by launching Glitz Residence I, II, III, Starz, Glamz, Miraclz, Resortz, Bayz, Jewelz, Elz, Lawnz, Wavez, Olivz and Skyz projects.

The company currently has a development portfolio of 7,002 units, with a combined value exceeding Dh5 billion. It has so far delivered about 2,155 units, with a combined sales value of Dh2.1 billion – or nearly half of its portfolio value.

Investor confidence in UAE market has increased tremendously, Rizwan Sajan says

Oversupply in Dubai is a thing of the past and developers should not worry about it as demand is strong and there are no new mega project launches that can cause massive oversupply again in the market, said Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of Danube Group.

“There is no oversupply in the market because if that were the case, then we would not be selling our Skyz project successfully. Even other developers who have launched their projects can also sell them well. It’s because investor confidence in the UAE market has gone up tremendously, both from local and overseas investors. That’s why whatever the supply is coming into the market has been successfully sold,” Sajan told Khaleej Times during an interview on the first day of Cityscape on Tuesday.

Danube Properties recently launched the Dh475 million Skyz project in Arjan. The developer has already sold more than 50 per cent of the project. Sajan expects to sell around 70 per cent of the project by the end of this month and 100 per cent by year-end. After selling Skyz this year, the developer will launch its next project in the first quarter of 2022.

“For the next few years, any developer should not worry about selling the project because demand is coming in from all over the world. I don’t think we should have any problem as far as selling is concerned. I don’t think oversupply will happen because a lot of people from abroad are investing here. Developers are not launching big projects but one or two buildings and that’ll not cause oversupply,” said Danube’s founder.

Property prices in Dubai have been recovering steadily and are expected to increase by 20 per cent in two years, offering a 5 to 10 per cent annual return on investment. In the last 6 months, prices have gone up by 20 to 30 per cent in certain areas.

“Buyers of the properties can expect to benefit from a 20 per cent premium if they sell the property after two years when we will hand over Skyz to the buyers. This translates to a straight 15 per cent annual profit – making it a very high return on investment,” he said, adding that those who’ll shy away from investing might miss the boat.

“Think of those who bought properties last year when the prices and market sentiment were the lowest in the middle of the pandemic – and made a killing by selling them at 30-40 per cent premium earlier this year – a solid return in just six months,” added Sajan.

Danube Properties, a leading real estate developer in the UAE, on Tuesday launched its new freehold Mediterranean-themed residential project Skyz Tower with a development value exceeding Dh475 million.

Located in Arjan master-planned community, the project will go on sale from October 30 with studio apartment prices starting from Dh399,000, one-bedroom from Dh599,000, and two-bedroom from Dh799,000.

“Due to the sell-out of all of our previous projects, we were running out of stocks since the beginning of the year. This necessitated the launch of the new project,” said Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of Danube Group.

“The payment plan for Skyz Tower is very attractive from the end-user point of view. For example, the buyer has to pay only Dh60,000 as a down payment for a one-bedroom apartment and a Dh24,000 registration fee. Then it’s just one per cent per month. The payment plan has been designed keeping in mind that it doesn’t hit the pocket of the end-users, who are mainly from the working class. They’re our target customers and they happily pay this instalment every month because it falls within their budget,” added Sajan.

With Skyz, Danube’s development portfolio exceeds 7,000 units with a combined value exceeding Dh5 billion.

This marks the first real estate project launch after the Covid-19 pandemic by Danube, reflecting confidence in the market that is witnessing a gradual upturn.

Sajan said the real estate sector is back and off-plan properties are in demand.

“Demand for affordable apartments is very strong because 85 per cent of expats here still stay in rented apartments. They’re our main target market because everybody has a dream to own a house in Dubai. The majority of our customers have been end-users who were staying in rental apartments and wanted to shift to their own apartments,” he said.

Danube founder said Asians remain dominant buyers, led by the Chinese, Indians and Pakistanis.

Sajan believes it’s better to have one’s own apartment because residential rents have started rising in Dubai.

“There are some investors from Europe as well. In fact, locals are also investing to earn rental income as rents have started to recover now. Outlook for the local property market is very strong for the next three to five years. The demand will pick up further, hence the prices, because a good number of high net worth individuals are relocating to the UAE,” he said, adding that some highly developed countries are still under lockdown but it’s business as usual in Dubai and the UAE, which gives further confidence to foreign investors.

Dubai: Danube Properties is testing investor appetite for offplan property with a Dh400 million project at Al Warsan First, near International City. And it is backed by an aggressive pricing that sees studios being offered from Dh290,000, one-bedrooms from Dh475,000 and two-beds at Dh699,000.

About 375 units of the overall 741 apartments at “Olivz” are being put on sale from today (March 11). Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

This is the first formal offplan launch of the year in Dubai, with most developers preferring to stay well away from what is still an exceptionally difficult sellers’ market. Emaar has been pushing The Valley, while other developers have had limited releases at locations such as District 1 in MBR (Mohammed Bin Rashid) City and elsewhere.

Also, most developers are waiting for Dubai’s Higher Committee on Real Estate to give its views on how to tackle issues such as oversupply. But, according to Atif Rahman, Director at Danube Properties, that’s not the same as saying new launches should stop. “That’s not what the Committee has been set up for – and as a developer, it is not our intention to worry about if there is demand for offplan,” he said. “Our only consideration is how to tap demand.”

Any talk about Dubai and property inevitably veers towards the supply issue – how the market could see between 40,000-50,000 new homes being readied this year. That this could be the pace of delivery for the next two to three years, and how this would keep prices under unrelenting pressure.

On whether the tight market situation is reflected in Danube’s launch prices for Olivz, Rahman said: “Look, construction costs have not come down – only property values have. No developer can risk lowering prices to an extent that the build quality suffers. Regardless of the market situation, we keep our prices to a certain range. The one thing that we do not engage in is over pricing.” (On a per square foot basis, the price would be close to about Dh800 a square foot.)

Delivery trackrecord

Danube has so far delivered 2,100 plus units across multiple projects, with some of them turning out to be popular rental hotspots. This is the leverage Rahman hopes will score with potential buyers of Olivz units. That and the developer’s time-tested 1 per cent payment plans.

Last year, Danube launched two projects – the “Elz” and “Wavez” – and delivered two, “Starz” and “Resortz”.

Market sources say that it’s unlikely there will be a string of new launches in the first-half of the year. The novelty of extra-long post-handover payment plans is slowly fading, and developers are turning their attention to project completions and then making a push with ready units.

UAE-based Danube Properties has announced the launch of Gemz, a AED350 million ($95.2 million) luxurious residential project in a pyramid-shaped architecture, offering spacious homes and floor plans with unique convertible layouts – so much so that a one-bed apartment can be made into a two-bed unit and the same can be turned into a three-bedroom unit – loaded with 30 luxury amenities.

A 14-storeyed building, Gemz will host 270 apartments – 24 studios, 74 one-bed, 114 two-bed and 42 three-bed apartments as well as 16 duplex apartments within Al Furjan, a vibrant residential community located between Sheikh Zayed Road and Mohammed Bin Zayed Road.

Danube said that to make these homes, which are priced at AED550,000 ($149,727) onwards, more affordable, it is offering the group’s flexible 1% monthly payment plan to the investors.

This plan facilitates the middle-income tenants and the end-users to easily fulfill their dreams of owning their choicest homes without any financial hardships, stated the Dubai developer at the launch event which also featured Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, its new brand ambassador.

https://news.writecaliber.com/economy-uae-uae-business-danube-launches-new-270-unit-residential-tower-in-dubai-gulf-digital-news/

Danube Properties announces the launch of Olivz, a master-planned cluster of buildings offering 741 residential units and a number of retail and recreational facilities with a development value exceeding Dh400 million.

The project will be developed in Al Warsan First area close to the International City and Dragon Mart with the easiest access to Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. The affordable homes come with Danube Properties’ trend-setting 1 percent payment plan that helps middle income tenants and end-users to easily acquire their dream homes.

The announcement was made at a packed press conference attended by the largest contingent of media and cheering crowd by Mr Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, and Mr Atif Rahman, Director and Partner of Danube Properties.

This marks the first real estate project launch of 2020 in the UAE and reflects Danube Properties’ confidence in the market that is witnessing a slow upturn as the countdown to the World Expo 2020 – that is expected to drive the demand for new homes – gains momentum.

The launch of Olivz comes as a welcome surprise to the UAE’s real estate broker community, who now has a new project with 741 apartments to market and sell.

With Olivz, Danube Properties development portfolio grows to 6,194 units, with a combined development value exceeding Dh4.5 billion. It has so far delivered about 2,155 units, with a combined sales value of Dh2.1 billion – or nearly half of its portfolio value.

“The launch of Olivz reflects our growing confidence in Dubai’s real estate market, which never ceases to amaze investors. The launch is timed well to meet the needs of the growing number of end-users who are now more confident to buy their dream homes,” Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, said.

“We have seen demand picking up in the last few months as we sold out all our previous projects – that necessitated the launch of Oilvz. With World Expo 2020 around the corner, we see an uptake in housing demand and the launch of Olivz is well timed to meet the demand.

“Olivz also gives Dubai’s real estate brokers a good number of inventories to promote and sell, and we are happy to see them requesting advance booking of units.”

Olivz will be developed at an 18,016 square meter plot of land at Al Warsan First, close to the International City with easy access to Mohammed Bin Zayed Highway. It has roads on both sides overlooking a public park and a mosque.

Each residential building will be uniquely positioned facing expansive landscaped gardens, with amenities such as swimming pool, jacuzzi, sunken seating surrounded by water bodies, water canal, play courts, kid’s play area and a BBQ area, providing residents an unparalleled lifestyle experience. The community is facilitated with family-oriented leisure facilities along with gymnasium, health club, jogging track and a party hall with outdoor deck.

Atif Rahman, Director and Partner of Danube Properties, says, “Olivz is another project which will reflect our commitment to design and deliver a happy community. Its driven with the intention of creating a superior lifestyle for the mid-market segment at extremely affordable prices. We have exerted immense efforts in ensuring that people will enjoy their life at Olivz once it is delivered. The location of the project is extremely attractive with super convenient entry and exit from Mohammed Bin Zayed Road without getting stuck in any kind of traffic bottleneck.

Today, Dubai is one of the finest real estate industries when compared globally backed by stringent regulatory controls and premium infrastructure. As a builder, I find more confidence in Dubai Real Estate than most of the other countries and the launch of the project is an evidence of that confidence. This is the best time for property buyers as they will never be able to get such attractive price points as the outlook of the real estate market remains bullish for the future.

“The launch of Olivz comes after we sold out the last two projects launched in 2019 – Elz and Wavez – as well as the delivery of two stellar projects Starz and Resortz.

“Our design vision for the project is to create a vibrant development, stitching the development into the fabric of the city and embedding it into the community. The community comes with some world class amenities, which you would generally associate with luxurious projects. Coupled with this, the apartments have been designed keeping end users in mind to ensure maximum utilization of space.

Dubai’s top private developers believe that a demand-supply balance has been achieved to some extent, and that prices are at rock-bottom and unlikely to go down any further.

Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Damac Properties, said that the market turned the corner in 2018 when new launches started to decline.

“We launched only one project each in 2018 and 2019, as compared to 10-12 in 2015. Our new project launches are 90 per cent less now, as we’re focused on deliveries. In 2019, we delivered over 6,000 units and plan to handover 8,500 this year and 9,000 next year. I believe that if the supply is stopped for a couple of years, the balance will be achieved between supply and demand,” Sajwani said.

Last year, 20,000 residential units were sold across Dubai, the Damac chairman had said earlier. This year, the developer hopes to sell 1,000 units.

“The prices won’t get cheaper in 2020-2021. The supply is getting less, and hopefully, in 2022, the prices will get much better,” he said during an interview with the CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Prices are rock bottom. Today, in Dubai, what you’re buying is almost at the cost of the developer or below cost,” he told Bloomberg in an interview.

He said that the supply has been curbed in the last couple of months as most of the big developers are not bringing in new projects.

Data by real estate consultancies show that the actual supply is less than projected, while sales have jumped substantially in the later part of last year, as properties become more affordable due to a persistent decline in prices. Data by ValuStrat revealed that a total of 24,613 residential units were confirmed to have been completed in 2019, which means that total completions represented only 58 per cent of the projected residential supply for 2019.

Real estate consultancy Cavendish Maxwell has predicted that 50,000 units will be handed over in 2020, but industry players believe that the materialisation rate will remain lower than expected due to delays in deliveries.

Atif Rahman, director and partner of Danube Properties, is also not worried about the oversupply, because he believes that a balance in supply and demand has been achieved.

“There can be oversupply in any market. Mumbai is sitting with 170,000 houses and there are no takers. In the Delhi region, there are more than 200,000 houses in the market; and we are talking about a country with a population of 1.3 billion, while the UAE is just 10 million. There will never be oversupply of good property,” he said.

He noted that a progressive economy, bringing in fresh investment, more population and businesses to the country will create further demand. “Every step that the Dubai government is taking, such liberalisation of trade and immigration reforms are moving towards that direction and will create more demand.”

Rahman noted that the Higher Committee for Real Estate Planning is not going to put a cap on new developments. “Even if they put a cap, we need to respect that. I am sure they must take the decision after a lot of research. You always get judicious and pro-business decision from the government,” he added.

Rahman stressed that every developer who is launching a new project should remain responsible towards delivering the previous one. “If a developer is progressing well with construction and delivery of previous project, I don’t see any harm in launching a new project. For the last 15 year, we always hear about oversupply, but more than half of Dubai was built over the last 15 years and the supply has been consumed,” he said.

Before March 2020, Danube plans to launch one more residential project in Dubai.

Danube Properties chairman Rizwan Sajan bets on UAE expats living in rented apartments to sell the new project.

“There is still huge scope of new properties as 80 per cent of expats still stay in the rented apartments. They are looking for affordable, value-for-money, good location, and payment plans. If you have put all these together they would certainly be interested,” he said.

Resort-themed ‘affordable luxury housing’ in Arjan features neoclassical architecture

Danube Properties has doubled down on its commitment to “affordable luxury” housing with the completion of Resortz, a Dh300-million low-rise residential complex in Arjan that takes inspiration from neoclassical architecture of 18th century Europe. The company said all 444 units have been sold out, bringing Danube’s total sales value to over Dh2 billion.

Affordable luxury will remain a safe bet in the market, according to Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of Danube Group, as he expects a rise in the number of property owners venturing into the holiday home market with the influx of tourists this year. “In the year of the Expo 2020, we believe the demand for homes will soar,” said Sajan. “Many homes will be offered to tourists as holiday homes through different online channels and our investors and buyers stand to gain from the rising demand this year.”

This, along with new regulations recently announced in Dubai, including five-year visas for tourists, have increased the incentive to invest on premium-quality housing with an affordable price tag. “(In affordable housing), you can’t go wrong at this price,” said Sajan.

Atif Rahman, director and partner of Danube Properties, said the five-year visa, coupled with Dubai’s extensive air travel options, will transform the emirate into a “weekend getaway”, effectively boosting the housing demand. “I’ve spoken to a few of my friends from different parts of the world and I got the same response from all of them: Dubai is going to be our weekend getaway now,” said Rahman.

While the rise in tourist footfall puts an emphasis on luxury and premium residences, Rahman points out affordable housing will remain the backbone of the real estate industry. “It is the most important thing for any business, any industry,” he said. “Everybody loves affordability.”

Dh3-million upgrades

In this regard, he acknowledges the completion of Resortz leads the way for the company’s growing focus on affordable luxury housing. The project was developed as “a five-star luxury resort”, with amenities such as a green landscaped podium that converts into a green park for residents, open swimming pool, water features, outdoor catering and barbecue area.

“If you look at this project, it’s not luxury, it’s super luxury,” said Sajan.

The company went out of its way to deliver a polished luxury product, spending upwards of Dh3 million for upgrades and other add-on features, including a dedicated lift for people with special needs. “In this project we have done several upgrades,” said Rahman. “We have added several new areas like the family deck, the kids’ play, the party hall. A separate lift for people of determination is a rare phenomenon in this part of the world. However, we are one of the first developers to have installed it in Resortz.”.

Sajan admits the upgrades affected the bottom line, “but what’s more important is the customer should be happy. If they are happy, they will come back for more”.

First project completion in 2020

In its characteristic flair, Danube unveiled Resortz in a “Royal Magical” show, replete with fireworks and actors performing on the balconies of the apartments. The elaborate ceremony, according to Sajan, reflects the significance of the project.

“This is the first project completion announcement in the new year, and we started 2020 with a very positive note,” he said. “This is our third project to have completed in just seven months – a feat difficult to match.”

The project’s architecture was tricky to pull off, according to Rahman, but it was ultimately in line with the company’s decision to raise the bar with each new project. “In the local ambience, there was nothing available that was similar to this concept,” he said.

Neoclassical elements

One of the standout feature of the project is the dome, created in neoclassical style. The columns were also chosen from several historic references, such as the historic Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy. “Every corner of the project, you will find a consistency of theme,” said Rahman.

But while the exteriors are neoclassical, the units have a modern layout. “We’ve wanted to create that sense of going back in time, but have maintained a modern-day look inside the apartments,” Rahman explained. “That’s what the project is all about.”

The property also features a health club, swimming pool, tennis court, car parking and retail outlets.

With Resortz, Danube has delivered seven of 13 residential projects, with at least three more expected this year, including Miraclz, another ‘affordable luxury themed’ project also located in Arjan. “I’m planning to celebrate the completion of Miraclz later this year and I’m hoping it’s going to be another record-breaking completion celebration,” said Rahman.

Danube’s 13 projects combine for a total of 5,453 units and a value exceeding Dh4.1 billion. The company has delivered 2,155 units, or nearly half its development portfolio.