DUBAI; The extent of investor appetite for premium properties in Dubai will be tested with sales opening October 13 for the first Swarovski-themed residential development — a set of three buildings in Dubai Marina. More than 370 units will be available for sale at the aptly named Sparkle Towers, which will be done through multiple phases.
The developer, Tebyan, is currently running the pre-launch sales, which are limited to units in four lower-tier floors chosen at random from the cluster. A senior official declined to mention the selling price, but market sources suggest premium properties in the Dubai Marina locality are quoting in and around the Dh1,800-Dh2,000 a square foot range.
Project costs for the Sparkle Towers are estimated in the multibillion dirham range.
Completion is scheduled for December 2016, and the developer expects to stick to the tight schedule. The piling works are done and the main contractor has just come on board.
Demand for high-end property had taken a dip in recent quarters after peaking late January. “The market condition is challenging, but we intend to generate demand by being among the last of the new projects being built in Dubai Marina,” said Naji Alia, Managing Director of Tebyan. “And there are going to be very few marina-side master-developments over the next 10 years and more.”
The people at Swarovski will play an integral role in the way the “interior and the façade” will be conceptualised and lighted up. The crystal maker has already been generous with its design inputs as well as assigning key personnel to help put them in place, according to Alia. It was last month that Tebyan sealed an agreement at Swarovski’s headquarters in Wattens, Austria.
According to Apoorva Mehra, Client Manager at Acrohouse Properties, “Marina primings are in the main linked to individual towers — the entry-level ones would be around Dh1,300 a square foot, while those rated premium would fetch between Dh1,700-Dh2,000.”
