Omniyat is all set to ride the Canal wave

Omniyat Properties will be sticking with its favoured location — Business Bay — for the launch of its flagship hospitality project, scheduled for the first-half of 2017. The property will occupy the “longest water frontage” of the newly opened 3.2-kilometre Dubai Water Canal

The developer confirmed that the hotel’s operator has been identified — “It won’t be any of the already known names ... we need to have that point of difference in an already large hospitality market that we have here,” said Mahdi Amjad, Executive Chairman and CEO. “I believe that bringing in a unique brand gives a competitive advantage that more generic names can’t.”

On whether the alliance is with one of the super-niche operators in Europe, Amjad said: “All the good ones are ... from Europe.”

The Dubai Water Canal is creating a much needed impetus at the luxury end — both residential and hospitality related — of the city’s property market. A handful of developers are lining up plans to ride these advantages to their logical conclusion. (Residential properties could command values of Dh1,800 a square foot and more, and the fact that there will be limited number of waterside plots makes it a compelling hot spot for luxury asset seeking investors. Already the marketing side related to the Canal is getting into overdrive, with existing projects harping on the views they can provide of it.)

“We have a few major announcements coming up, but this will be the biggest one,” said Amjad. “Our largest project to date — the Opus — is due for delivery early next year. It took longer than expected ... but, now, we are in the market to add to our land bank and which would keep us active until 2019-20.

“What we have now should last us until 2017-18. But as in the past, Omniyat will remain extremely selective on what and where we acquire.”

New front

The developer closes the year with a portfolio valued at Dh16 billion, including projects that are to be announced in the near term. (The Opus in the Burj Khalifa District bears a distinctive design stamp — that of the late Dame Zaha Hadid — and will be managed by the Melia Group. The external structure with a hollowed out centre has a built-up area of 2 million square feet.)

“Hospitality is a relatively new front for Omniyat and something that we will build on,” the CEO added. “Going forward, commercial, residential and hospitality will be our core areas, with hospitality closer to the 30 per cent mark. Large retail will not be a priority for us, but community-themed retail will be.”

Even as it bulks up on its high-end options, a venture into the mid-market space — something the developer had spoken about in the past — is still a consideration. “We are working on it ... but it has to be in the “premium middle segment,” said Amjad. “We have to have that differentiation — it’s extraordinarily important for us.”

On whether it will wait until the luxury end of the market corrects itself in full before launching new projects, Amjad said: “Dubai’s fundamentals remain very strong — and there will always be new investors from India, Russia or Africa,” the CEO said. “Simultaneously, developers have to look to new markets to create the buying opportunities. There will always be such opportunities.”

Factbox: Turning down offers for its one-off penthouse

* Omniyat Properties is in no hurry to sell off the one-of-a-kind penthouse it is building within its One Palm project on Palm Jumeirah. A price tag in the range of Dh180 million has been mentioned in the past. But the Omniyat CEO is not telling — so far. “We have refused many offers ... because we want to get in the right price and right buyer,” said Mahdi Amjad. “That’s our flagship unit and we don’t mind taking our time on it.” The project is scheduled for a mid-2018 delivery.

* A project outside of the UAE is also on the radar for the developer. “There are other cities where a developer profile that we have created in Dubai could fit in. But it’s something we will consider after 2017.

source : gulfnews