Latest News
Saturday, January 27 - 2007
Dubai signs for property research
The Dubai Land and Properties Department has signed JAJ Consultants to research the local property market. The company will provide an analysis of the sector, including factors driving supply and demand. The department says it will use the advice for future planning.
DWC awards two contracts
Two construction contracts have been awarded for the Dubai World Central project. Kuwait-based M.A. Kharafi & Sons gets the turnkey construction contract for Dubai Logistics City s headquarters and Office Park, which in the first phase will include 10 six-storey buildings. The National Company, a Kharafi subsidiary, won a contract for two central utility complexes. Terms were not disclosed.
$136m contracts at DSC
Head contractors have been appointed for construction of the academies area at Dubai Sports City. Transemirates Contracting is head contractor for the major facilities, which include the Manchester United Soccer Schools and ICC Global Cricket Academy. Eastern International is head contractor for the Bradenton Preparatory Academy. The contracts are together valued at $136m, and both projects are due to be completed by April 2008.
Enabling contract at Ajman 1
Local developer Aqaar has awarded a contract for enabling work at its Ajman 1 project to Piling Tech, also a UAE-based company. In the first phase, which is due to be completed by 2009, the $720m mixed-use development will have 12 residential towers offering freehold properties. The whole project will include a hotel, a commercial tower, serviced apartments and tower for leased apartments.
EFT sales open
Sales have opened for residential units in Emirates Financial Towers at Dubai International Financial Centre, according to the developer. The $160m twin towers project is selling apartments, and has office and retail space. The buildings will have 1,200 automated parking spaces designed by the US Robotic Parking Systems.
Solidere $6.8bn Ajman investment
Lebanon s real estate major Solidere is investing $6.8bn in a real estate project in Ajman, according to a report in Dubai-based Al Bayan cited by Dow Jones Newswires. Solidere will develop the $13.6bn project in a 50:50 partnership with the Ajman government. It is expected that the project will be launched in the next three months.
$163m Parallel Roads contract
China State Company has been awarded a $163m contract for the first phase construction of Dubai s Parallel Roads project, Gulf News reported. The two roads on either side of Sheikh Zayed Road will pass through various residential and commercial areas, and will eventually run to Dubai s border with Abu Dhabi. The first phase is a 13km stretch from Jebel Ali Racecourse to Muscat Street. The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority is the client.
Tower built to honour Zayed
Abu Dhabi-based Pearl Properties will build a 61-storey tower in Dubai in honour of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed, Gulf News reported. Called Al Hekma Tower, it will feature an image of the late ruler at its peak. The building will go up near the first interchange of Sheikh Zayed Road. Pearl Properties is part of group owned by Sheikh Zayed s son, Sheikh Eisa.
Abyaar $260m works contract
Kuwait-based Abyaar Real Estate has appointed the local Modern Executive Systems Contracting as main works contractor for Pier 24 and Pier 8 towers at Dubai Marina. The deal is worth around $260m. Work on 20-storey Pier 24, which will be run by Radisson SAS, is due for completion in summer 2007. The 40-storey Pier 8 is due by the end of 2008.
Dubai, realty crackdown
Dubai's Land Department is to instigate a new vetting system to make sure real estate agents operating in the emirate are properly qualified and have been officially registered, reported Gulf News. The system is being introduced in a bid to stop rogue agents carrying out unscrupulous deals. A time-frame has yet to be revealed but, in the first instance, all real estate firms will be registered.
Parking charge tests rent cap
Some Dubai renters have been hit with a new Dhs5,000 parking charge, which they say their landlord has introduced to try and avoid a government imposed 7% cap on rent rises, Emirates Today reported. The Karama residents said they had been using the basement carpark of their building for years.
Scaffolding collapse kills one
One worker died and two were seriously injured when scaffolding collapsed at a building site in Dubai, local media reported. The men were working from scaffolding erected around a 13-storey residential building under construction in Al Nahda. 80 other labourers had to be rescued from the building.
Human error caused blaze
Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim has revealed that the fire which broke out in the Fortune Tower last week was due to human error , reported Gulf News. It is thought the fire broke out as a result of the attempted burning of materials such as cables and plastics. Meanwhile, the death toll has now been put at two, with 37 reported injuries.
Fortune Tower, no major damage
The Fortune Tower Group has said that no structural damage occurred to the Fortune Tower in the Jumeirah Lake Towers following last Thursday s blaze which killed four workers, reported Gulf News. In a statement, the company said the fire occurred between the 20th and 25th floors and was brought under control within 75 minutes.
