Dubai: Dubai’s tallest high-rises are currently placed 16th in the rankings of cities with the costliest skyscraper (buildings of 350 feet and over) rentals, according to a report issued early Wednesday by the consultancy Knight Frank.
The city’s position could have been even better had it not been for the fact that rentals remained unchanged in the second-half of 2014, whereas those in top-ranked Hong Kong saw gains of 20 per cent during the period to average $250 a square foot. New York skyscrapers were in second spot with average rentals of $150 a square foot.
‘Hong Kong is still top of the table, confirming that on a range of measures it is the world’s leading skyscraper city’, the Knight Frank report notes. ‘However, the lead has narrowed — in particular, stronger rental growth for tower space has buoyed New York, where skyscrapers are proving popular with the city’s fast expanding digital and creative firms’.
Dubai too has plenty of ammo when it comes to creating new and tall skyscrapers — the Dubai Lagoons master plan unveiled late last year has designs on what could be the world’s tallest twin towers and getting ahead of Malaysia’s Petronas Towers. But further details of the Dubai project have not been revealed. There are other developments, such as one by the likes of the RP Group, which will also scaling high.
As such, even among the 79 completed towers of 1,000 feet and taller globally, Dubai’s share is 28 per cent and China’s 40 per cent, according to Knight Frank’s findings. For the record, Dubai has built nearly 190 skyscrapers since 2000 and Shanghai 90.
The report also suggests that the Burj Khalifa will lose its status as the tallest to the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah by 2019.
“Skyscrapers are a rising tide in the modern global city ... London has added 23 new skyscrapers since the turn of the millennium, compared to 17 in the preceding 40 years,” said James Roberts, Chief Economist at Knight Frank. “New York added four new towers in 2014 alone, including the iconic One World Trade Center.”
On the sales side for high-end apartments in Dubai’s completed signature high-rises, “As more property gets built in Dubai, buyers have more options than ever before,” said Luke Hexter, Head of International Markets at Luxhabitat. “So sellers can expect slightly longer listing times, but as ever good quality stock at the right price always sells quickly.
“We currently have a full floor penthouse in the Burj Khalifa on sale for Dh69.85 million, which is our most expensive Downtown property. Other significant properties in the Downtown area are a Dh53 million penthouse and a Dh50 million penthouse in the Address Dubai Mall and The Residences respectively.
“With our clients being primarily very high net worth individuals, they don’t have to sell due to financial necessity. So, super-prime prices are generally not affected by minor market fluctuations.”
