Dubai Marina & MAG 218 Topics

Al Rashad Contracting Company (RCC)

2007-01-20T23:58:00.000+04:00

This post has been removed.

Go back or visit http://www.rcc-uae.com/welcome.html.

Dreaming of Home in Dubai

2006-12-15T14:15:00.000+04:00

As Towers in the Upper Marina Rise-upphotos: 8-Dec-2006

Dream Estate: MAG 218 tower on offer.

If there is anything that keeps prospective buyers of UAE property from ultimately casting their lot with a purchase, it is just that. It feels like casting a lot. It isn't like the dream home experience one is likely to experience in another country, where you start with a mental image of what you want, consult architects and builders, negotiate the specifics upon which a contract is drawn up, and arrange finances. Once work gets underway and construction proceeds you monitor the progress, discuss alterations if the need arises, and within months or a year or two, you have your dream home--no mystery, no surprises.

The Dubai Way

Unfortunately, it isn't anything at all like that in the UAE. Whatever images exist in one's mind of the dream home, you start out by looking at ads and brochures. You may in fact had not yet been considering a home purchase, but the fanciful ads tempt you. You settle on the property that appeals to you most or comes closest to your specifications. You sign the contract then arrange finances, or vice versa. From there on it is step back and watch. You make payments over the span of a year or two, while waiting two, three or four years for the project to be finished.

What goes down eventually comes up: Marina 23's foundation pit makes progress.

You had no input in decisions on size, layout or design, much less on materials, contractors, etc. Nor were you allowed any input or permitted to make modifications in the contract. It is a completely take-it-or-leave-it proposition.

As the years pass you keep your fingers crossed and wait for the day you are handed your keys. For some there will be surprises, maybe even disaster. Then you are faced with a decision to either wage endless battle or make do with what you have. If lucky, however, the end product will be passable if not exactly what you had been expecting. After a two, three or four year wait, you'll have your dream home Dubai style.

On the Rise: Marina Pinnacle rises above its podium.

But if the success of such a huge investment is, as some might say, in God's hands, then why do so many take the plunge? Is it faith, greed or naiveté? Or is the situation really not as bad as portrayed here?

The most suitable answer is probably, Yes, to all of the above. Some are acting on faith in the reputation of the builder, in Dubai and its rulers and, I suppose, in God. As time progresses and projects get completed (or not) it becomes easier to judge the reputation and reliability of a given developer.

Laws are being implemented on both the federal and emirate level, although often lacking detail. In the early days, and even now for many projects, trusting the developer and the government of Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah or any other emirate or Gulf state, was in large measure an exercise in faith.

Topping Out: Emirates Marina Serviced Residences reaches 59 floors, 254 meters.

Others who buy are so attracted to the chance to make quick money that they are willing to take risks. In this case, the early days were when there was the greatest potential to make substantial profit on one's investment. Though it is still possible to flip property and make money, it is harder to do so when there is so much choice available direct from developers. The rate of increase in property values is considerably lower than it had been and some are predicting a property glut.

Finally, there is the buyer who simply lacks experience. Many will have never bought property before in any country, and some will just be lured by the utter simplicity of making a purchase. Without the need or even the option to offer input, buying a home is almost as simple as point and click. Overseas buyers, especially, are likely to appreciate that there are few details to haggle over. It is both buyer naivety and the convenience in simplicity that lead some to take the ultimate plunge.

Final Stages: Marina Crown with finishing touches being done on exterior and interior.

Dreaming of Dubai Marina

There are other things that distinguish buying one's dream home in Dubai from doing so in other places. That home in Dubai is likely to be perched high above ground level. Unlike Hong Kong or Manhattan islands where building vertically was, in part, out of necessity, in Dubai sitting high is all about prestige--firstly for the developer who is able to proclaim, "This is what I've built," and secondly for the homeowner who hopes to be able to say just as proudly, "This is where I live." Buying a home in the sky in the Dubai Marina is an attractive way to fulfill the Dubai dream. The Marina is, in fact, home more to condominium towers than boats. In this regard, building a home in Dubai is bound to be different from elsewhere--yet it isn't for the faint of heart.

Dream Fulfilled: Recently completed Marina Heights tower stands tall.

Would you buy property in Dubai? Tell why in a poll.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

MAG 218 Progress, Construction News and Demographics

2006-05-11T20:01:00.000+04:00

The expected date of completion for the MAG 218 tower has been pushed back from mid-2008 to nearer the end of 2008. Those who are versed in the history of the MAG 218 project may recall that construction on the tower was originally due to commence in August 2005. Construction work, however, began only in February 2006. It appears the developer was reluctant to announce a delayed completion schedule, until now.

It attributes the delayed construction start to stalling by Dubai municipality on issuing permits, due to extensive roadworks in the vicinity of the MAG 218 tower and throughout the Marina. There appear to be ongoing discussions about how to improve traffic flow in the area. Indeed, the ongoing No. 5 Interchange construction work is both expansive and elaborate. The construction zone appears to extend as far as the road fronting the SZR side of the MAG 218, sometimes referred to as "D Road", which is being widened right upto the edge of the MAG 218 plot.

Click on map for detail.

The Construction Site

At present, work is proceeding day and night at the MAG 218 site. A visit to the site reveals a panoply of machines, a large dig area at center with trenches along its perimeter, the site offices, stacks of storage containers, various tanks and mounds of sand. The two roadsides are lined with construction hoarding and the other two sides are open to adjoining plots scattered with machinery being used for the MAG 218. It is presently a very active construction zone.

The developer reports shoring work complete up to 80%. Basically this involvles construction of an underground cavity wall to support the excavation site. It includes embedding a support system around the entire perimeter of the planned dig area. Digging or excavation of the 30 meter deep basement is soon to commence. The developer reports that the entire piling operation is due to be completed by the end of July.

In this regard the MAG 218 Community website will solicit details and provide regular updates on construction progress from the project manager. These updates will not only document with photos the pace and form of construction, but also offer some explanation of the building process at hand, in terms understanble to the layperson.

The Emerging Upper Marina

Projection of the Upper Marina neighborhood as seen from Al Sufouh Road; source: Skyscrapercity.com Dubai Marina Forum

A recent visit to the MAG 218 site reveals a rapidly changing landscape. In addtion to the MAG 218 plot, the entire block on which it sits and adjacent areas are being transformed. Notably the 23 Marina site (tallest tower pictured above at left) on the Media City side of the MAG 218 has been excavated, while other plots behind the row of towers lining Al Sufouh Road are seeing extensive activity. As mentioned above, D Road and the entire No. 5 interechange along Sheikh Zayed Road is undergoing major construction work.

Click on map for detail.

In the block opposite the MAG 218, with plots nearer the Marina canal's edge, extensive construction activity is going on at the Torch and Princess tower plots (tallest building at center, Princess, and builidng just to its right, Torch) and other sites, including destruction of the former Emaar Sales Center to make way for additional structures.

Artist's rendition of the tallest of the new towers to be built in the Upper Marina; source: Skyscrapercity.com Dubai Marina Forum

The MAG 218 tower, shorter than any of those pictured above, will stand about 250 meters in height.

Within the coming months one will be able to see the emergence of the new interchange along with several new towers and a shopping mall. The developing picture is that of a massive interchange with up to 10 flyovers, several towers rising 60-100+ floors, and an attractive boutique shopping mall linked to a luxury hotel property with landscaped courtyard and fountains.*

Currently there are six towers in the area either newly completed or in advanced states of construction, all in the range of 50 storeys tall. The up and coming towers will more than double this number with heights of upto twice their size. For property investors in the MAG 218 and the rest of the Upper Marina, it is a very exciting time to witness the transformation of the neighborhood.

*There is a rash of speculation on what will be built at the former site of the Emaar Sales Center, a rather expansive zone of more than three large plots fronting the Marina's main quay. My own speculation, based on observation of patterns of development within Dubai, is that the site will see the construction of an expansive hotel and apartment development linked to the already confirmed shopping mall to be built across the road. Master-developer Emaar is famously tight-lipped, so there is unfortunately no confirmation on what will in fact be built.

The Delay Question

Always a contention for investors is when their properties will be complete. It is perhaps also a major headache for developers. The concerns of the inverstor are quite understandable. Many may plan to fund their purchases with rent paid on units they hope to let out once construction is complete. Other buyers who intend to live in their new properties may be in the difficult position of having to pay rent on their current place of residence in addition to the installments on their new property purchase, while waiting for it to be completed.

The developer, on the other hand, has to deal with a multitude of factors both within and beyond its control, which can easily effect the pace of work. One might expect the thoughtful developer to build in some slack in its initial completion date estimates, to allow for those unexpected issues that might cause delays. This, however, must be balanced with the need to avoid putting off potential investors with overly cautious completion date estimates.

In the case of the MAG 218 it may be reasonable to expect that a tower of this size may require an actual construction period of 1.5 to 2.5 years. In initially annoucing a 3-year estimate for completion of construction it would seem that the developer was allowing for 6 months to over a year of potenetial delays. With the actual construction beginning some 6 months later than originally projected, the developer may still be within its margin of potential delay, which would explain a reluctance to announce any revised completion date estimate.

The developer is now saying that there will be a delay of four months or so, with completion estimated toward the end of 2008. This probably reflects a realization that having already used up 6 months of its cushion even before construction work began, an additional period of slack is required to allow for any additional issues that may come up as construction proceeds. It is reasonalbe that MAG PDD has come to this conclusion still 2 and a quarter years prior to the initially proposed completion date as opposed to springing any news of postponement just months before completion, as has happenned with some Dubai projects.

MAG 218 Sales and Community Demographics

The developer reports that 390 of the total 550 units in the tower have been sold. Many of these sales came as a result of MAG PDD's recent sales campaign which encouraged buyers to make their purchases prior to 02 April when prices would be increased by 10%. Keeping to its word and providing a boon to those who had in fact made purchases, prices did rise 10% effective 02 April. With only 160 units still available for purchase, those on the fence or just considering a purchase may need to act with some haste.

Is the MAG 218, especially with its new 10% premium, a worthy investment? This site offers extensive information on which to judge this question. In addition to what has already been discussed in various posts, the description above of how the Upper Marina area is emerging offers additional perspective.

Dubai Metro (click image to view entire metro network)
There is no doubt that this will be one of the premier addresses in Dubai. Not only is it within the Dubai Marina, itself a desirable address whether from the perspective of living or holidaying, but it will also be the site of some of the tallest and most distinctive towers in Dubai. It will stand at the edge of one of the most elaborate and important interchanges on the Sheikh Zayed Road and in the middle of a transport network to include nearby metro, tram and bus stops.

The developer is also reporting a very European community in the MAG 218 tower, with principle purchasers including Russians, Italians, Germans, British and other European nationals, in addition to Singaporeans and a scattering of inverstors from other countries. It promises to be a colorful mix which will likely mirror the very international face of the Dubai Marina. Purchasers of units are encouraged to visit the Who We Are page to add their details.

Of Further Note

News of who will be the main contractor for the MAG 218 project should be forthcoming. In addition, plans are being made to interview the architect behind the MAG 218 design. Any readers with questions they might like to pass on to him are welcome to post them in comments below or contact the website manager.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Onsite With the Project Manager

2006-02-01T01:30:00.000+04:00

Dr. Basheer Khan, the project manager overseeing work at the MAG 218 site, was kind enough to spare time out of a busy day (31 Jan 2006) to answer questions about the project. What emerged in the process of the interview was a clearer picture of the dynamic process involved in carrying out a project of this scale. it would also appear that MAG PDD, the developer, is sincerely interested in not only erecting a tower, but in building and furthering its own reputation in the process.

The Process

The project clearly consists of an ongoing, collaborative effort among the developer, consultant, contracter, master-developer and Dubai municipality representatives. At the time of my visit, the project manager, consultant engineer and a municipality rep were in discussion over issues related to infrastructure at the site. Based on Dr. Basheer's explanation, the pattern of work on the project might be described as a repeating process of consultation--planning--submission of proposal--and wait for approval. Today's incident was a case in point as additional consultations with the municipality were being carried out prior to commencement of excavation work.

Despite careful plans being drawn up, new issues invariably arise. As Dr. Basheer explained further, some developers might proceed with fewer consultations or leave such decisions up to the primary consultant, but MAG PDD has chosen to be involved and oversee the project at every stage.

The Players

Perhaps partners would be the preferred term by MAG PDD who promotes the idea of working with future partners. The collaborative team on the MAG 218 project at this stage consists of MAG PDD (developer), Dar Al-Handasah (architect and primary consultant), Emaar (master-developer), Arabian Forasol (piling contractor) and Dubai municipality.

Emaar in its capacity has set certain basic criteria, and with its own plot (for a shopping mall) being developed just beside the MAG 218 there are ongoing discussions as to how construction work on the two projects will proceed simultaneously.
Dar Al-Handasah in its capacity is the primary shaper of the project. It will move the project from the drawing board to implementation and direct the process all along the way. Although MAG PDD retains its role as the ultimate authority and overseer, it is the main consultant who will effectively manage the project.
Arabian Forasol will take the foundations process from shoring and excavation works to piling. Near the end of this process there will be a period of overlap when the main contractor who, once chosen, will step in to complete the building of a raft foundation.
Dubai municipality through its representatives is the ultimate authority with regard to enforcing building codes and other regulations and will, it would appear, be regularly consulted with.

Questions of Responsibility

With so many involved it may be difficult to know who is in charge of what. Dr. Basheer offered some clarification:

Engineering and design issues are mainly the purview of the primary consultant.
Procurement, construction and commissioning are the responsiblity of the contractors.
Contingency planning is a responsibilty shared by the developer, consultant and contractors.
Cost and schedule control are managed by the consultant and developer.
Change control rests with the developer as far as its jurisdiction will allow. That is to say, the master-developer or municipality's authority may supersede this.

The Current State of Construction

Clearly, as any visit to the site will reveal, construction in any real sense has yet to commence. Asked when piling or excavation work would begin to any significant extent, the project manager offered, "early March."

He explained further that although the piling contractor had been selected (a month earlier) certain approvals were still being awaited. The municipality representative's visit today was in connection with that. Furthermore, there are still issues to work out with Emaar. As he explained, Emaar is a large bureaucratic entity. Even the developer does not have a direct channel with the people at the top, so negotiations take time.

In the meantime Arabian Forasol has put into place one pile driver to perform some test piling. Some amount of surface excavation has already been completed. The site office and other equipment and facilities were being put in place. Rather than stand idly by, it would appear that a certain amount of filler work is being done until all issues have been worked out with Emaar and the municipality. Once that happens major excavation work can begin.

Foundation Works Schedule

Early March: Start of excavation and shoring work, to continue 2-3 months. Shoring to a thickness of 800mm and excavation to a depth of 22 meters anticipated. Dewatering will be carried out at required depths.
May or June: Installaton of ground anchors which limit latteral building movement.
June or July: Piling, bored-type. This is when most of the piling work will be carried out, however, some piling will be performed at intermediate stages as well.
July onwards: Construction of raft foundation. Allowing for an overlap of 2 or more weeks, the main contractor (yet to be appointed) will begin work on the foundation. At this stage of construction, plumbing, electrical and mechanical works will also commence.

Earthquake Precautions & Quality Control Mechanisms

The UBC (uniform building code) for seismic loads will be observed at a zone 2A level or up to a 5.5 or 6.0 richter scale. (See further information on earthquake zone levels and construction in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.) The lift core of the structure will have reinforced concrete walls.

Regarding quality control in construction, building code standards from the USA (primarily) and other Western countries are being followed in accordance with Dubai construction regulations. Both the main consultant and project manager will monitor quality standards. An inspection plan of some type is in place (about which further clarification may be needed).

In the following excerpt, the article linked to above offers additional commentary on who bears the greatest responsibility in the case of structural damage due to earthquakes:

It must be remembered that any construction project involves (i) owner, (ii) design consultant, (iii) regulatory agency, (iv) contractor, and (v) supervising consultant. The responsibility of the contractor is to execute work according to the drawings given to him by the design consultant. Thus, the contractor is not responsible for the suitability of the design or whether or not it complies with various applicable regulations. Hence, it is unfair to blame the contractor for under-rating a bridge, as long as he has constructed it according to design. Similarly, he constructs the foundations according to the drawings given by the design consultant who is supposed to have checked the bearing capacity and stability of the underlying soil. If the structure fails due to soil failure or the foundation was under designed, it is not the contractors’ fault. By the same token if the design did not withstand the quake forces, responsibility lies with the design consultant and not the contractor.

Tender Evaluation

One of the most important outstanding matters is that of who will be the main contractor. Tenders are being evaluated on the basis of companies' past performance, financial background, current projects and resources. The fact that excavation and shoring will take some time to complete means that there is additional time to make the selection.

Commentary & Conclusion

Questions of scheduling and delays are probably of major concern to all parties--buyers, developer, consultants, etc. The buyer, for example, wants to know if the project is moving along in a timely manner and whether adequate planning and project management proceedures have been put in place. Over one month has passed since a piling contractor was announced for the MAG 218 project and that decision itself seems to have been delayed up to 6 months.

At this point and throughout the building phase, however, the most important concern should be not about the occurance of delays as much as about understanding what is behind any such delay. A month can seem a long time when one does not have any information on the reason for the delay.

The interview with Dr. Basheer provided some insight. What is essentially going on are matters of concern to both MAG PDD and Dubai municipality regarding infrastructure at or near the site and the coordination of construction with Emaar on the adjacent plot. Could these issues not have been addressed earlier on? Speculation on this point won't provide many answers, but it would appear that MAG PDD, as the primary agent responsible for the success of this project, has vested interests that include a strategy to grow the company's image as a builder of high repute. The tone and content of the project manager's statements--as well as those of the general manager in interviews and other settings--seem to bear this out. It all suggests that MAG PDD is as eager to see this project through, in a timely fashion and with quality standards maintained, as any individual investor. One of Dr. Basheer's primary roles as project manager is to see that the consultant and contractors make this happen.

Interestingly, there are a number of other issues at play, as work on the MAG 218 gets underway. One matter which will have an impact on the early phases of constuction is the massive roadworks at SZR interchange 5. Access points to and around the MAG 218 site will be affected by this. On another interesting note, Dr. Basheer reports that Dubai Ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has on occasion toured the Marina area insisting that construction proceed more quickly.

Of final note, the expected completion date of the tower is mid-2008, a prediction in line with what has been suggested over the past several months.

Note: A thank you to Ravi, for coming up with some of the hard technical questions. Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

MAG 218 Events Update, 27 January 2006

2006-01-27T23:45:00.000+04:00

The Home Owner Dubai program is still in progress, Saturday 28, January being the last day. It will conclude on this day at 8 p.m. The Madinat Jumeirah is a splendid venue and MAG PDD is prominent as one of the primary sponsors. Attendance by non pre-registered guests is permitted.

The seminars portion of the event has, however, been cancelled in deference to the recent passing away of Dubai's ruler, HH Sheikh Maktoom Bin Rashed Al Maktoom.

The event is especially useful for prospective property buyers providing them a chance to meet with a number of developers and sales agents in one venue. For those particularly interested in the MAG 218 tower, MAG PDD offers a large presentation area with scale model, 3D graphic presentations and a sales team to assist potential buyers.

With regard to sales, the MAG PDD campaign begun in the last quarter of 2005 continues with an offer of Mashreq Bank Millionaire Certificates with purchases of property.

Progress on MAG 218 Foundation Works

Arabian Forasol are in place with equipment ready to begin the excavation process. There has been a delay since the late December announcement of the piling contract by MAG PDD due to construction related issues that unexpectedly came up with master-developer Emaar. It took some two weeks to work out these issues which arose due to the fact that Emaar itself will soon commence construction on its shopping mall adjacent to the MAG 218 plot. Additional details regarding the planned schedule of foundation works will be presented on this website after consultation with the project manager in a week's time.

There are, in fact, a number of issues at play as construction on the MAG 218 tower commences. Among these is the large road works taking place at the nearby Sheikh Zayed Road No. 5 interchange. This involves substantial ground work in the vicinity of the MAG 218 plot. Another is word of a tower to rise adjacent to the MAG 218 (on the NE or Media City side). Master developer Emaar has given assurances to MAG PDD that this tower will be at a distance of at least 20 meters from the MAG 218 tower structure--even though the two towers' podiums will rest side by side.

The MAG 218 Community First Event

Unfortunately not enough participants signed up for the event which was to include a boat ride on the Marina and meeting onsite with the project manager, among other activities. In lieu of this a more casual Coffee Time meet-up was arranged for anyone to drop in on with interest in goings on at the Dubai Marina. The meeting on-site with the project manager has been deferred until next week--Wednesday or Thursday. Anyone interested in joining in may contact me or post a comment below.

Stay-tuned for an informative update following this meeting with the project manager.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Hotel Recommendations for 27 January Community Event

2006-01-10T12:10:00.000+04:00

In reference to the MAG 218 Community event of 27 January 2006.

The following per night rates were checked on 10 January for stays 26 - 29 January. Links are from either Dubai World Site's Hotels and Resorts or Hotel-Rates.com's Dubai Hotels where you will find complete listings. Those listed below are not the cheapest, rather proximity to Dubai Marina and the Madinat Jumeirah and the quality of the property are considered along with price. You may need to recheck rates and get further info online at the alternate link provided:

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah (5-Star) Dubai Marina
From Dhs 900 (alternate link), see also From Dhs 900 (alternate link)
Oasis Beach Hotel (5-Star) Dubai Marina
From Dhs 900 (alternate link)
Jumeirah Beach Hotel (5-Star) Jumeirah (closer to Dubai Marina)
From Dhs 1560 DSF Rate, (alternate link)
Al Qasr Madinat Jumeirah (5-Star) Jumeirah (closer to Dubai Marina)
From Dhs 1754 (alternate link)
Regent Beach Resort (3-Star) Jumeirah (closer to central Dubai)
From Dhs 660 (alternate link), see also From Dhs 900 (atternate link), w/free airport shuttle
Metropolitan Hotel (4-Star) Sheikh Zayed Road
From Dhs 700 (alternate link), see also From Dhs 700 (alternate link)

Commentary:

Hotels in Dubai are expensive, with prices rising. Not everyone needs or wants 5-star accommodation, but the market is geared toward that--for reason of profit margins, of course. The Internet provides a valuable resource for finding a hotel, but it isn't always easy to find what you want and info changes often. Case in point, 2-weeks prior I found a listing for the same dates as above at the Oasis Beach Hotel for about Dhs 680. Now, not only can I not find the site I checked before but on checking one site repeatedly today I found the listing change from Dhs 850 to Dhs 900.

Top recommendation? The Regent Beach Resort offers the best compromise among price, location and quality of property. It is about as far from the Dubai Marina as the Metropolitan but easier to get to, including by public bus. It is also at a good middle point between the new and old Dubai. Among the 6 hotels listed above, however, I have never before seen or heard of this one, but Jumeirah public beach which it seems to be near is an excellent beach. If you can get the Dhs 660 rate it will be an excellent value, especially considering its free airport shuttle. If price is less of an issue, the Al Qasr Madinat Jumeirah is a brand new, super high-class property with one of the most beautiful settings in Dubai and it is also the venue of the Dubai Home Owners show.

Hope the above helps. Good luck on your own search--and I would appreciate any good deals you find to pass on to others.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

The MAG 218--A Brief History

2005-12-31T23:40:00.000+04:00

MAG 218 Timeline:

06 November 2004: Project announced in news publications.

18 December 2004: Concept drawings completed.

11 March 2005: Official launch announced.

15 March 2005: Official launch party held at the Burj Al Arab.

30 April 2005: Scale model put on display.

28 August 2005: Re-design of tower completed.

12 November 2005: "Re-launch" sales campaign initiated.

26 December 2005: Piling contractor announced--Arabian Forasol.

Word of a new MAG PDD project began surfacing in the last quarter of 2004. MAG 214 in the Jumeirah Lake Towers development had already been launched. The new 218 tower would be built in the Dubai Marina. A November 6, 2004 Gulf News article reported,

MAG Group will shortly launch a 55-storey development at Dubai Marina. Featuring 534 units, the promoters expect an average sale price of Dh800 a square foot for the MAG 218 tower. Completion is set for the third quarter of 2007.

Initial concept images were completed on 18 December, 2004. These provided both interior and exterior views of the tower.

The intial project launch finally took place in March 2005. 11 March news reports provided more detail:

Moafaq Al Gaddah Group launched its latest project, MAG 218 Tower at the Dubai Marina recently. Officials said the value of the 66-storey luxury residential project is estimated at more than Dh350 million. Dar Al Handasah, who designed the project, has been appointed project management consultant. Asteco has been named sales and marketing agents and Amlak will support the buyers with mortgage finance. Mohammad Nimer, director of MAG Group's property development department, told Gulf News that construction will begin in July. "We expect to choose the main contractor by July after a tendering process. The project is scheduled for completion in 32 months," he said.

Shortly thereafter an official launch ceremony was held at the Burj Al Arab:

MAG Property Development Department which is a part of MAG Group of Companies held a dinner party at Burj Al Arab to launch their latest project: MAG 218 Tower in Dubai Marina... The event was attended by high-profile businessmen specialized in the real estate business.

The launch was followed with an ad campaign:

Within a month sales catalogs were also released. By the end of April MAG PDD had teamed up with Asteco to hold a showing of its tower with a newly constructed scale model. Several news sources publicized this event:

Asteco, real estate and property management company will present a model for the MAG218 project, the 55-storey tower with 550-apartments to be built within the Dubai Marina on April 30 and May 1 at its head office in Capricorn Tower, Shaikh Zayed Road... Asteco consultants will be available to introduce the new project, which takes its name from the 27-year-old Moafaq Gaddah Group (MAG)... MAG218 will be completed by the first quarter of 2008, and the consultancy Dar Al Handash is already working on the building's design plans.

Reports for when the tower would be complete began to vary. In November 2004 a completion date of 3rd quarter 2007 was suggested. In the March 11 press release a start date of July 2005 was suggested with project completion in 32 months--by February 2008. This would remain consistent with later estimates of a 1st quarter 2008 date of completion.

In July 2005, however, construction did not begin nor was a main contractor selected. More press reports, however, were published. MAG PDD general manager Mohammed Nimer was interviewed by Colin Foreman for ITP Construction:

(Saturday, 23 July, 2005) MAG’s Commitment to Quality Real Estate: What are the origins of the MAG Group? The company was originally founded in the UAE in 1978, dealing in car parts, batteries and tyres...

The interview revealed a lot about MAG's stated commitment to quality and delivering the product promised--a theme elaborted on further in a later November 2005 interview. Mr. Nimer went on to say that the concept design had been finished and work was being done on the "detailed design." This work would finally be completed on 28 August with an updated design adding balconies to the two-bedroom units.

This was the last report on the MAG 218 published in the general media for the remainder of 2005. This dearth of reporting, however, would be made up for by the persistence of the MAG 218 Community website in gathering further detail about the project from web forums and ultimately through direct communications with the developer. The result of these efforts was a 12 November Interview with the general manager. In it, Mohammed Nimer offered a number of assurances. Regarding quality control he asserted,

I want to be sure that you’ll have it and you will be satisfied with it from all aspects, like time-wise, quality-wise, service-after-sale wise, which is very important for us… All of this will help us in promoting ourselves… This is a guarantee—other than the contract, other than all the insurance we are giving you; but more assurance is our name.

That being said, there were continued delays in the start of construction and the announcement of any contractors. The start date was moved from July to August, August to October and finally October to January. The first year since announcement of the MAG 218 project ends with a piling contractor having just been announced.

Having set targets of 100 new units being sold by year-end MAG PDD launched a major new advertising campaign in November. Spending over Dhs 800,000 the company released full-page news ads and hung banners from city flyovers. It also enlisted the efforts of other sales agents, having abrogated its working relationship on the project with Asteco earlier in the year.

A perusal of the MAG 218 Community site and associated pages will reveal the full extent of activities and developments on the MAG 218 project. The year was characterized by high anticipation at the launch of a new, distinctive tower for the Dubai Marina. Delayed progress, however, on the awarding of a contract and start of construction tempered some of the enthusiasm. The year 2006 will once again set into play hopes for a year of steady progress on the construction front.

Go to MAG 218 Community homepage, Dubai Marina Communities or DM Blog.

27 January 2006, MAG 218 Community Event

2005-12-27T23:51:00.000+04:00

This event represents an ideal opportunity to view developments within the Dubai Marina, get to know other purchasers, visit the MAG 218 site, speak with the project manager and find out more about the Dubai property scene through exhibits and seminars. It will be a unique chance to participate in both recreational and informational activities.

The cost of Dhs 150 per person will cover boat fees and lunch. This amount may be adjusted later in light of greater or lesser participation. Participants may have to add taxi fare from the Dubai Marina to the Madinat Jumeirah if car pools cannot be arranged.

The Home Owner Dubai show on 27 January will run from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Participants may decide individually the times and exhibits or seminars they will view or take part in. Online Pre-registration is required and participants are asked to submit their registration number and a business card on arrival at the venue.

The Friday Evening Street Fairs represents an additional option that participants may freely take advantage of. It will be going on within the Madinat Jumeirah complex at approximately the same time as the Home Owners show.

This event is open to anyone interested in the MAG 218 project or any of the other scheduled activities.

Please RSVP by Friday, 20 January 2006, so that arrangements can be completed in a timely fashion. Please note, however, that registration to the Home Owners Dubai show as early as possible is recommended.

To apply for participation in the MAG 218 Community event or get further information post email to:

upandhi@gmail.com

Update: Hotel recommendations for out-of-towners; rates starting from Dhs 660 per night.

Timings and Additional Detail on Activities:

Dubai Marina Cruise
11:00 a.m. ~ 12:00 p.m., from Marina Walk.

An opportunity to view the various projects coming up in the Marina from a unique perspective. The boat will cruise to the far end of the Marina and back, then into the open Gulf for sea views of the Marina and JBR towers. Transport will be via Nautica 1992 club's Gulf Craft 31' Walk Around boat, with cabin and bathroom.

Lunch at the Rupee Room
12:00 p.m. ~ 1:00 p.m., at Marina Walk.

Lunch will include 10 traditional Indian items with soft drinks. The Rupee Room first opened in Scotland in 1900 and is presently one of the most popular venues for lunch or dinner in the Dubai Marina. It is located at the Marina Walk's North Podium.

Visit to MAG 218 Site with Project Manager
1:00 p.m. ~ 1:30 p.m., 5 mins. from Marina Walk.

Just as foundation work gets underway on the MAG 218 tower, project manager Dr. Basheer will be available on site to explain and answer questions about this key phase of the construction process. It will be an opportunity to get answers to those tough technical and non-technical queries.

Home Owner Dubai 2006
2:00 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m., at the Madinat Jumeirah (15 mins. from Dubai Marina). Pre-registration required.

The Seminar & Exhibition for Real Estate, Investment, Purchase and Real Estate Services. This event covers 3 days, 26-28 January, at the Madinat Arena of the Madinat Jumeirah (beside the Burj Al Arab hotel).

MAG PDD is an official sponsor. Online Pre-registration is required. You will recieve a registration number that must be presented for admission.

What you'll see at Home Owner Dubai:

Banks and Financial Institutions
Contractors
Furnishing
Insurance companies
Interior designers
Landscapers
Lawyers and legal advisers
Architects and Design Directors
Mixed residential/commercial developments
Marina and waterfront developments
Leisure projects
Project Managers and Directors
Property Developers and Managers
Real Estate Agents
Real Estate and Property Investors
Surveyors
Builders and Developers
Consulting Engineers
Design Companies
Integrated Building System Providers
Removal Companies

Friday Evening Street Fairs
3:00 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m., at Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

Description from website:

Thanks to popular demand, the Friday evening street fairs at Souk Madinat Jumeirah will be resuming on the second and fourth Friday of every month from October 2005 to April 2006. Handmade arts & crafts will be on sale in the Souk amphitheatre adding an extra dimension to the vibrant spirit of the Souk.

Don't forget camera and questions for the MAG 218 project manager.
See you at the Marina!
Go to the Latest Post, or read community notices at Notice Board. Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

How to Navigate These Pages

2005-12-26T22:21:00.000+04:00

For starters, there are two pages which represent, in HTML parlance, Index Pages:

Dubai Marina Communities and MAG 218 Community.

Each may be used as a starting point to navigate to other pages, like ~Photos (DM, M218) or ~Blogs (DM, M218), which branch out from the main theme of Dubai Marina or MAG 218.

There is also what represents an index in the traditional sense:

Dubai Marina & MAG 218 Topics (Index).

This page contains links to posts arranged by title, which are found throughout the Dubai Marina and MAG 218 pages. It also indicates which topic (DM or M218) the post relates to and the month and year of publication.

Besides the three index pages, the two blogs, DM Blog and M218 Blog are good places to start and return to, just for a light read on what's up with the two communities.

MAG 218 Future Residents, Buyers or Prospective Buyers:

Slowly peruse the MAG 218 Gallery. Take a comfortable seat and click to enlarge each image revealing what the MAG 218 will look like.
For a broad range of details, specs and perspective go to Purchasing a Unit in the MAG 218 Tower and check out the Key Links

On a related subject...
What's Up With MAG 218 and the Dubai Marina Anyway?

Why all the fuss and what has one got to do with the other?

Well, for a little background, in June 2005 I signed on for purchase of a unit in the MAG 218 tower. As an excited first time buyer, I was anxious to find out as much as I could about my new investment. As it turned out there were a few articles from news sources on the internet. These piqued my interest and I wanted to find more. Alas, there was little more to be found. The MAG 218 website became a way to share with other buyers whatever I could find and a focal point around which I could organize a search for more information. At the same time it would be a way to foster a sense of community among buyers.

It seemed to make sense at the time to also provide info on the larger Dubai Marina. The Dubai Marina Communities site was set up as an adjunct to the MAG 218 Community site, with the idea of establishing links with similar communities in the Marina--whether online or functioning on the ground. Thusfar, however, that hasn't happened. The MAG 218 Community may be at this point in time a unique entity.

At present the Dubai Marina Communities site is meant to provide some commentary on life in the Dubai Marina--mostly through the DM Blog. It is also intended as a general source of data, firstly on the various tower developments and on other facilities in the district. It isn't meant to be as comprehensive as the MAG 218 website, and is still somewhat oriented toward being a resource for MAG 218 buyers and residents.

Of final note, these pages are about both words and pictures. It is a given that many people interested in the Dubai Marina and MAG 218 are not in the UAE. Therefore, pictures are useful to present what is there without the bias of too much personal interpretation. The words on the other hand are all about expressing one's viewpoint of reality. Hopefully, the two will complement one another.

Return to MAG 218 Community or Dubai Marina Communities.

Join in the Fun @ DM Blog

2005-12-08T23:02:00.000+04:00

So You Want to Collaborate

What this is, is group blogging. Say, Blogger A has a thought regarding anything on the Marina. He starts with a heading or title, then elaborates. Anyone, may proceed to comment on his statement, or Blogger B may at any point introduce his own topic of discussion. On a usual website or even a blog the Webmaster guy or gal pretty much controls the content. In a collaborative blog each blogger is basically free to add his/her own content. The Dubai Marina is (or will be) such an expansive community that it would be better served to have a forum to which many can contribute.

For those familiar with blogging it will be easy. For those with no experience, you will learn! Start by reading carefully about how it works below.

To the experienced blogger: You will be able to post text and format it in any way you please. Unlike posting a comment you will be the one to choose a title, and set the topic of your post. You may also format (if you like) and post pictures.

To all bloggers: The only requirement is that whatever you post be Dubai Marina relevant and, of course, neither indecent nor offensive--use your own judgement!

How it Works

In standard blogging the blogger types something up in a text box (online), clicks a button to publish, and voila! What he has written appears on a webpage for all to see.

You will need an email address. This is so that you may receive an invitation to join the DM Blog. You will also need your email address to complete the following step.
You must have (or get) a user ID associated with a Blogger account--this enables you to login and post messages. If you already have a Blogger account you may use the ID associated with it or you may wish to create a new Blogger account. To create a Blogger account go to Blogger.com and follow the step-by-step instructions.

(Please note: When you create a Blogger account you will be guided through the process of creating a blog as well. If this is your first time and you are unsure what to blog about, just create a blog entitled "About Me" and in your first post (an initial post is required) write anything, briefly, about yourself, then click the publish button. In completing this step you will have created a blog on the Internet (to which you can freely post at any time), and you will at the same time have created a Blogger ID which allows you to publish posts to not only your own blog, but also any blog to which you are invited to collaborate on.)
Contact me the website manager, by email, upon which I will send an invitation to you to join the DM Blog. After receiving the invitation reply as instructed. You will then be able to log in to your Blogger account and post directly to the DM Blog.

What's the Point?

Besides what has already been stated above, the DM Blog gives the reader or visitor to the Dubai Marina Communities sites a chance to not only learn about the Dubai Marina but contribute to the community and interact with others. This is already possible to some extent through posting comments, but blogging takes it a step further.

If you feel so inclined, then don't hesitate to join in the fun!

Return to Dubai Marina Communities or go to MAG 218 Community homepage.

How to Collaborate at MAG 218--Collaborate!

2005-12-02T23:28:00.000+04:00

New for 2006 is an option for MAG 218 buyers to blog. (And blogging, which refers to a web log, is simply an easy way to insert text and images into webpages directly onto the Internet.) The idea of the MAG 218--Collaborate! blog is to encourage a free-ranging and spontaneous discussion among buyers and prosepctive buyers (and other concnerned parties) about anything related to the MAG 218.

How it Works

You will need an email address. This is so that you may receive an invitation to join the MAG 218--Collaborate blog. You will also need your email address to complete the following step.
You will need a user ID associated with a Blogger account--this enables you to login and post messages. If you already have a Blogger account you may use the ID associated with it or you may wish to create a new Blogger account. To create a Blogger account go to Blogger.com and follow the step-by-step instructions.

(Please note: When you create a Blogger account you will be guided through the process of creating a blog as well. If this is your first time and you are unsure what to blog about, just create a blog entitled "About Me" and in your first post (an initial post is required) write anything, briefly, about yourself, then click the publish button. In completing this step you will have created a blog on the Internet (to which you can freely post at any time), and you will at the same time have created a Blogger ID which allows you to publish posts to not only your own blog, but also any blog to which you are invited to collaborate on.)
Contact me the website manager, by email, upon which I will send an invitation to you to join the MAG 218 Collaborate! blog. After receiving the invitation reply as instructed. You will then be able to log in to your Blogger account and post directly to the MAG 218--Collaborate! blog.

What's the Point?

It's a new year, so why not start something new! That's one reason. Another is that blogging is, well, fun--especially collaborative blogging. If you have something you share in common with others--in our case, the MAG 218--then it creates an avenue for interchange that can be both interesting and informative.

It differs from posting comments, which is an option on this and all the MAG 218 Community pages, in that it allows each person to start his or her own topic of discussion. Posts, however, are not organized by topic, rather by simple chronological date. Therefore it takes on the flow of a casual conversation rather than a structured discussion.

To get a better idea have a look at the UAE Community blog, where bloggers within and outside of the UAE exchange thoughts and info about the place they take a common interest in. Be careful, it might be hard to pull yourself away from it! These bloggers offer a wide and varied scope of views.

That's it. Hope you'll join.

Return to MAG 218 Collaborate! or go to MAG 218 Community homepage.

The Pyramid Builders at Al Sufouh Road

2005-11-27T16:24:00.000+04:00

One midsummer’s day in 2004 I found myself navigating the far end of Al Sufouh Road. This is the main local-access road running through what is sometimes called the New Dubai. Starting from the famed Burj Al Arab (hotel ala seven stars) it runs parallel to the coast of the Arabian Sea. After passing the entrance to the man-made Palm Jumeirah island it continues on to the Dubai Marina. Here it separates the man-made waterside development from a wide coastal stretch of beach and the soon to be completed Jumeirah Beach Residences (JBR)—a megalithic project consisting of some 40 high-rise towers.

If you build it...

On that hot day in mid-2004 the JBR towers had already begun to sprout, along with other towers on the Marina side of the road. The scene was that of a massive construction site, eclipsed only by the even more massive site that exists today. I fail to recall the purpose of my journey, but it was nonetheless fascinating to see all that was coming up. Like many at the time, however, I had some doubt as to whether Dubai could really pull it off. Its ambitious building schemes, impressive as they were, could not simply by their emergence assure the second half of that oft-quoted equation: ~they will come!

As I began getting lost about the several road diversions I started to wonder further, not whether such projects could be built but whether they should be built. The scale of it all seemed to rival other great construction works past and present. Why is it, I thought, that the desert in these parts had remained so unpopulated until the discovery of oil? The obvious answer was that climatic conditions were just too harsh. So, what had really changed that it should become inhabited by so many today?

Well, the climate certainly hadn’t changed but technology and the new wealth within the region could support whatever visions one might have for a new city or a new society.

The current construction boom in some senses mirrors earlier booms that in recent decades had already given the cities of Abu Dhabi and parts of Dubai and Sharjah modern and expansive skylines. Like the pyramid builders millennia earlier, human labor as well as ingenuity could be summoned to build great monuments even in the harsh desert climate.

The Question

So, it had already been demonstrated that new cities could be built in the desert. More than 3 million people were already living in the cities of the UAE. But it wasn’t so much a question of whether people could comfortably live and work in the towers and homes already there or in those to come. The question really was with regard to the laborers, those who would dig the trenches, pour the concrete, erect the scaffolding, and install the plumbing, electrical and cooling systems. How much easier would it be for them to toil in the harsh desert climate than it was for, say, the pyramid builders of long ago? Or conversely, if in fact laborers had managed to get through earlier building booms, why couldn't they get through the current one?

A Dangerous Quartet

To start with, it seems things really are different this time. The towers that line the roads of central Abu Dhabi today (the first city in the UAE to experience a major construction boom) are generally around 20 storeys. While it is one thing to build a handful of towers that rise higher than these it is another to erect literally hundreds.

In addition to the singularly tall Burj Dubai tower, presently rising up to 160 floors, there are at least three other towers proposed or under construction in Dubai that are to exceed 100 storeys. The JBR towers alone represent a single project of some 40 towers rising 30 to 50 floors, all being erected within a span of two years. In addition to towers (some sources indicating over 600 under construction or proposed), tens of thousands of villas are buing built, along with eventually hundreds of kilometers of new and expanded highways and roads, tunnels, bridges, massive airport expansions and rail projects. All of this in addition to off-shore reclamation works creating numerous islands and on-shore dredging projects to create and expand lakes and rivers.

Were such a scale of development to take place in more temperate climates it would still represent an extreme challenge to the labor force. What exists in Dubai today, however, is a quartet of hazards that can seriously impact the well-being of the work force (and the quality of their work):

extreme heat for several months of the year
low standards for worker safety, low wages and poor living conditions
projects which require new and innovative designs and construction methods
workers whose training is almost exclusively on-the-job

Remove one or more of these conditions and you have a more workable scenario. That would account for laborers having gotten through the earlier building booms. The developments of the recent past were not what one would call ground-breaking. In addition, the human toll even at those stages was probably at a level of inacceptability. So, what you have for the manual laborer in Dubai today is a situation that is to some extent going from bad to worse. (In one example, wages are tending to decline, although with some government pressure living conditions are improving.)

Asking The Right Questions

That brings me back to the question of should it all be built.

When I posed the question to myself on that midsummer day in 2004 I concluded that developers, builders and buyers should, in addition to asking what can be built, begin to ask themselves about the morality of building palaces on the blood, sweat and tears of manual laborers. I wonder if this question ever comes up in the initial planning phase:

Is there enough capital?
Is the project technically feasible?
Will it sell?
What will the environmental impact be?
What will the stress level be on the human workforce?

Does this last question ever come up?

It is in fact, I believe, a moral issue. Just as one worries about issues of crime, corruption, substance abuse, and the like, one should also think about the morality of using wealth to develop a city or country so extensively. Can’t we do without the tallest building in the world if we consider that doing so might spare the lives of those construction workers who may inevitably suffer or perish due to one or another extreme hazard? What will it be like for workmen erecting scaffolding at the 150th floor or for those securing structures underwater while building the world’s first undersea hotel?
Stand Not in the Way

One year later, in mid-2005, I found myself joining the ranks of buyers, having been lured by the dream of owning a home in a tower off Al Sufouh Road. Should the pyramids be re-built, I ask myself again—this time with blood on my own hands!

The answer? Let us not stand in the way of human imagination and ingenuity. If they dream to build it--and have the means--then let them try. However, developer, builder and buyer will serve the greater good by asking the right questions, including those of ethical and moral basis:

What problems and issues will arise for the workforce?
What can I, the developer, builder or buyer do to address these concerns?

A year or two ago, little would turn up in web searches about laborer conditions in the UAE, Now links are plentiful. The problems are not new, but greater attention to them is. Things are moving in the right direction!

JD Perkins Photoessay

Award-winning photojournalist J.D. Perkins presents artistic and thought-provoking images in his photoessay,

building a dream ~hard labour in dubai

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.
TAGS: Dubai Marina, foreign labor (foreign labour), labor issues (labour issues), workers rights

MAG PDD General Manager Interview Transcript

2005-11-25T04:14:00.000+04:00

Ok, Mr. Nimer, I appreciate you giving me this time.

Thank you for your coming and your time also.

One of the first questions I want to ask you about the building is the height. There's one website called SkyscraperCity.com and everybody's wondering about the height of the tower.

The height of the tower is around 275 meters. This is up to the top of the building. Of course this is including the cooling tower, you see--without the antenna.

And that was another one of my questions. In the design I saw the cooling tower but I didn’t know what that was. So, is that what that is?

Actually in the Marina, you see, in the Marina Dubai, the air conditioning system is the chiller system, individually for each building, slightly different than Jumeirah Lake Towers which has district cooling system. That’s why here we have actually two technical floors—the 1st, the 31st—that’s where the machines, the equipment and the units where the cooling tower at the top. This is serving the tower for the air conditioning purposes.

Now regarding the design at the top, it’s like a kind of lattice work. How did it—how was the design developed? Was it by Dar Has…?

Yes, of course, we have Dar Handasah. We have one of the best architects actually from Dar Handasah. His name is Sama’an Fouly. Of course here when we, you know, each tower or each construction or each building has to—something to do with the location. Location really is implementing a lot of factors in the design, and besides what we want to do in this tower. Like in this particular tower we decided to make it one- and two-bedroom, in different sizes like 80 sq. meter, 160 meter for two-bedroom after we add the balconies. And the reason for that mainly is we are targeting certain type of customers like here I’d say above-average rank of workers of expatriates who can afford the living and could be in the nearby area like Dubai Internet City, American University of Dubai, Media City…

When we did the design, we tried to be as much as we can practical in what we are doing. Like from the day you come in from the entrance, which we did not make such big fancy entrance, but we did make a double void which gives you like 7 meters height, and when you come out in the lobby…(can we switch it off—telephone ringing).

Going back to the design, I’m taking in consideration this type of customers, projected customers. That’s what we make the design for, and that’s why we did not make any studios, we did not make any 3-bedrooms or penthouses. Because we…that’s what we believe will be best for the area, and hopefully we could be right.

I hope so too. That’s one of the things that attracted me to the building, the way the design was and the one and two-bedroom layout. I thought that was excellent.

Again, in the design here, going back to the design, we assumed that in this tower, which we have 550 apartments, as I told you before. We think, “What could those tenants need?” They need a recreation center which we have. They need an open door area for barbeque or open-door activities. We have the event hall which can serve more than one function at the same time, or one function for a big event. At the same time we have the swimming pool with open-door Jacuzzi.

Now also the fact that just beside the tower we have a mall which will be constructed by Emaar, which hopefully will be completed in the same time we are completing the job. This also gives a value to the construction location where almost you will not drive without going to work, and if you’re lucky working in the Media City you will not use your car at all.

Did you have an idea about the mall when you chose the plot?

Yes, of course. You know, again this is going back to the location. Now the fact that we are not on the front, waterfront view, but we are open from three sides like the intersection both sides, the mall one side. And the only side which we have a tower, which is one side near Sheikh Zayed Road.

Going back to the design, again here, you see we spent a lot of time in the design, where we think as if we are the tenant there. Like when you come to an apartment, let me take the one-bedroom. You have to have an entrance, where you open the door you will have a certain corridor before you step inside the actual apartment. Having the guest toilets near the main door is also an issue. Having a master bedroom there is also something a must where we have nothing less than 16 sq. meter each bedroom, without the wardrobe, without the bathroom. And I believe this give you, what you call the human, the feeling design. When putting you in a bedroom of 3 by 3, I believe this is not healthy. That’s why our rooms is almost more than 16 square meter, at least.

Now you go to the living room, even having a living room with the dining in one-bedroom, where you come in from the main door to the living room, in and out, even if the doors of the bedroom is open, you can’t see nobody. Because the location of the doors here has been selected in a way to give you the privacy.

Now coming back to the kitchen, actually the kitchen took us some time to decide how we will design it, since we don’t know really know what type of culture those tenants coming from. That’s why we make it in a way, maybe European or American-style way where you have an open kitchen like a bar, and maybe somebody don’t like it. That’s why we put this sliding shutter where it can separate the lady or whoever in the kitchen from the living room and vice-versa.

Again, to utilize the kitchen in the best way by millimeters. That’s why we decide to fully furnish it, where you really have nothing to worry about such as a fridge, the washing and drying machine and the stove. Now again here, we say maybe not everybody like to have a dishwasher. That’s why we put only the provision of the dishwasher where the tenant can fix it there—we have the facilities.

Now when you come to the two bedroom, two-bedroom actually we add a balcony. Actually I say a balcony, it’s not a balcony. It’s like a small terrace—2.1 by 9 meter almost. This also we give like an open area to each individual tenant, and at the same time here it gives the area a total like around 160 for the two-bedroom, if you add the balcony to it.

Again here we consider something as one of our trend in the design like when you go more than one bedroom you have to have a store. The store here we call it in English “den,” which can be used like a computer room, it can be a store, it can be a house maid… It’s up to the tenant to do that.

Again we have better, I’m sorry, bigger kitchen because of the area, and that’s why we really think this is the most practical design.

There’s one more thing, actually I’m thinking about the design always, like from the time you come out of the elevator, and you come out of the elevator to your apartment, you will not walk more than maximum 7 meters. You will not go in a long corridor like a hospital corridor or hotel corridor. This is also part of the design where we can design the core in a way that it’s smaller as much as we can.

The same time here we consider the lifting system. In Dubai today I can assure you that most of the towers, the waiting time in the elevator’s lifting system is really beyond the standard—the international standard. Here we are looking for it in this way, that the waiting time should not exceed 40 to 45 seconds. And the only way you can do that, by having a proper traffic study for that. Like in this tower in particular we have six plus one, where three of each will go only for certain level like the left will go to the first 30 floors, while the other three will go from 30 onwards. While you have the service floor which it takes for the furniture for all.

You see all of those things we are thinking about in the design.

So you didn’t just throw this together. It’s a very carefully thought out plan.

I mean the design here took us like more than three to four months, having meetings with the designer, with the marketing specialist, who knew about the requirement designs, etc.

Will the MAG 218 be in any fashion an intelligent building—fiber optic cables or something like this?

What you call here a smart home—again you have to go back to the cost. Here we did it in a way that if the tenant like to add those options onwards, he can do it himself.

So it’s possible?

Yes, it’s possible, of course.

And the name 218? What’s behind the name?

What’s behind the name actually, we like to give the feeling to the buyer that we are here. We are going not in one tower. We have at least now six, seven towers. And when we think about what name we have to put, the names are so much crowded in Dubai, there’s nothing not used so far.

Yeah, everything Marina or something…

Yeah, yeah, and it goes about the marina, sky, garden, sea, water, something like that. And that’s what we thought, since we have a long trip in development that’s why we said, “Let’s put in a series, using even number.” And that’s why we started 214, 218, etc. That’s where the name comes from and I think we can be easily distinguished even in the future. Like if you say, “I’m living in MAG 218,” it will be easier to know than what is the name.

It’s a distinctive name.

Exactly.

Ok, I’ll ask some questions now about location. How was the plot chosen?

You see here everything has a value. First, in the Marina the available plots is very much limited, and we encountered that we have more than three, four choices. We choose this one in particular because we believe the location is very good. As in the mouth of the Marina, being in the main intersection, with the value we paid and the price we are selling to the tenants, I think it was a good combination. And that’s why you come out with this location.

Ok. So you had a choice and you, but this location sort of met a lot of the things, a lot of your requirements?

Yes, yes.

About the shopping mall will it--you told me that it would be in that “t” section, but will it also extend across the road to the area between the Marina Heights…

No, no. Only that side.

Any idea what will come up between Marina Heights and the Torch?

Marina…?

Marina Heights and the Torch? Because there’s like an open area right in front of the MAG tower, but I’m wondering if they will put another tower there. Any idea about that?

You mean from the, which is on Sheikh Zayed Road?

No, the--facing the marina side. The side which faces the Marina. You have the Marina Heights tower which is almost finished, and then…

You mean you have the Le Reve. which is looking on the Mina Seyahi?

No, that’s on side, but right across from the front entrance of the MAG. It’s like open now, but I’m wondering…

You mean that area which is looking on the bridge now.

Toward the bridge? No, just straight in front of the tower. Like if (pointing) this is the front of the tower here, right across. Just at an angle there’s the Marina Heights.

Yeah, I mean, you know the tower comes in an intersection. Both sides is intersection which is the road, 60 meters wide.

Yes, and one side is Sheikh Zayed Road…

One side which is Sheikh Zayed Road and then the mall, and then there’s one beside you as a tower to be coming up which I think too much, is too high there.

Ok, but you’re not sure what’s going to be…

I mean the master plan, I mean beyond the road, I really, I don’t have any information about that.

Next, let’s see-- in the contract it said that ASTECO would manage the building in the first year of completion. Is that still…

Actually in the MAG 218 we did not make up our mind who would be the management team for this. We agree it’s too early to talk about it now, but we will have a management company—good one. Somebody in ASTECO’s level, where they will manage if for the first year. The reason we are doing that, because this is what you call in English, the “fixed liability period.” Because we are in charge of it through the contractor and the supplier and all this team of construction for one year from the date of the successful completion time. We take it over in that period because we want to give space, room, time for the clients to come in.

As you know in the contract there is an explanation about constitution rules where you want to do that. We’ll give you time to do the committee, the election. We’ll do this for, only for the first year. With this company which we select, we as a developer, it will be a committee choice to continue with them. If we change the system, maybe do something different than what we propose, and take it over for the next year. Let me give you an example. In the management, like we have to get the best company for cleaning, good service company for security for the 24 hours. Like I have in my mind we have to put a receptionist at the entrance to the building. We have to put a full-time staff for the building management system room, which control the whole tower. I’m thinking to put a lifeguard in the swimming pool. We have to put some reception in the community floor. All this is in my mind as the developer, but you could say we don’t need this, we don’t need that. It’s your choice—a choice here of the committee.

So, but in the first year you…

We could get a trainer in the gym—you know, you are paying for that as tenants. But here if the client says we don’t need that trainer.

Now I’d like to ask some questions about sales. How do you feel about the idea of companies, like purchasing a whole floor? Is that something you would not like to have or it doesn’t really matter from your perspective?

From our perspective, you see, we have this tower for sale. Some customers come as individuals for flats, some of them come for investment. Now here, if I sell you the flat and sign the contract with you, it’s yours. You can do anything you want with it. You can rent it, you can sell it. All of that is listed in the contract, in the purchase sale. Now, going for, we know sometimes that investors come to us to buy. Now, we sell it. Of course here the price we are selling—you know if we sell you one apartment it’s different than if we sell you ten apartments or twenty. There are some developers or some investors buying from us, negotiating with us what floors. They want to buy five floors, two floors, ten floors here—maybe we have a little bit more flexible terms with them, we have maybe better price for them. We believe it as a whole price. Now, we know very well that those people will take it from us and re-sell it. Which is, I mean, this is their choice.

What happens if a large number of units go unsold? Do the people who have bought units, will they have higher maintenance and service fees because it’s divided among a smaller pool?

This scenario is not valid, technically, not valid. Because, you see, I mean the tower is built there. I mean if you ask me like a developer, I mean, we have—always you have to make plan. And the worst plan is like—I can’t say worst plan—but it’s one of the scenarios, it’s not worse or good. If I—cause I’m proceeding with the construction, irrelevant if I sell or not. Now, suppose I am proceeding now, as I am doing, and they leave 20%, 30%, 50% not sold. Always there is a precautionary plan where we put this in rent and we take it over ourselves. That’s the way out.

So, there’s a way to deal with that.

Yes, of course. Cause if you build and you sell and there’s nothing to sell, I mean the way out is to rent it.

Ok, are there any investors in the project besides…

Sorry, even if you don’t rent it, still this will be theirs. Because the fees you are paying is equal in pro rata to your square foot size. I mean, it’s not from any apartments there. Suppose there is 10 apartments there. This means you will pay for the 550? No. Definitely you will pay for the footage.

Are there any other investors in the project besides the purchasers of units and MAG PDD itself?

No, I mean we are the developer and we have nobody else besides. That’s why we have relation direct with the buyers now in this tower.

Now I’d like to ask something about construction issues. Being in the sand, in an area of sand and salt-water contamination, what measures will be taken to protect the building’s foundations.

Good. Actually you see here, when you talk about design, design is always related to zones, and each zone has their criteria for design. Like going from the earthquake frequent study or happening or occurrence, all of this will be considered. I give an example. In this one we are going in piles, because we cannot do other than piles with such height. Now, I don’t know if I can tell you. The piles go up to 50 meters deep. where you will reach the solid layer, and you know, you are always building in water, and salt and sand. You are just like less than 4 or 500 meter away from the sea. It’s normal. What I want to tell you, the standards which will be used in such construction is within that parameters, and in all those conditions you talk about. And this is I think international standards.

How do you plan to deal with unexpected and sudden increases in material costs due to the heavy demand for construction materials in Dubai? Cause this seems to happen every now and then.

Actually, we are living in it now. We are living in it. I can tell you facts that when we did make the bids with the study for that project, the prices which we know in that time increased at least, at least by 15 to 20%.

From that time till now…

From that time.

Ok, and you were expecting that? I mean, you were anticipating that?

Maybe we were expecting 10%, but not 15 or 20. But here, you see, this--I mean this will not stop us from continuing. The only effect we have here is that it will reduce our profit, and we have to live with that.

I was going to ask you, what do you do in that case? Do you source cheaper materials, do you ask purchasers to pay more to cover the costs, do you shoulder the cost yourself and take the loss in profit, or do you have other contingency plans? But you’re saying you would…

No, actually we know that. Always when you do a visibility study, you always has to have cash cushions. Now we will loose some of those cushions. That’s all. But this will not really stop you or ask or let the buyer or user really suffer from that. Like I give you an example in 218. In 218 today we have a campaign for sale till the end of the year. And the fact we have the intention to increase the price, by certain limit, from that time. And mainly the reason of that is because of this what you told me about. But you see here, I’m selling like I’m giving a chance to the buyer come out till the end of the year to take the chance—or to buy as if I am buying pre-launch price. Now this will help me increase the sale. Then whoever comes after that will buy, he will pay the new price, which is much more, not much—it will be more than the price which you bought now, yourself.

So you have some flexibility from that—a cushion.

Yeah, because you see here, you’re right very well. You cannot be away from what’s going on the market. Like if I have a—this tower. Let me say that I have in this particular tower, 550 I’m selling. But suppose I’m in 200th apartment sale, I still have 350, the prices really go up. What I will do? I have the right only to increase the price of what’s available. But the people who bought—the deal is done. As if, you see, I’m taking a chance, the buyers taking a chance. You see? I think, like there is another thing, there is a rules of what’s going on in Dubai. I estimate that when the rules comes out, defining the exact rules… Maybe, I expect that maybe the price will go up by 10%.

Yes, that will bring more people in…

Yes, because there are so many people who want to buy but they are not sure about the rules, when the rules come out—I don’t know how it will come out—which way. But if it come out, really, in a good way where people will be more attracted to buy, I’m telling you it will increase the price by at least 10 percent.

How can buyers be assured of quality control throughout the building process? Will there be an independent body to observe that?

Yes, actually I’m telling you here something. Here where, if you remember what I told you before, today in Dubai there is so many developers. We are one of them. And here we are saying by the finishing, when we sell you an apartment, we are selling you a brand—which is our name. Like today I can maybe sell you an apartment and you say, “Oh, what is this? MAG is doing a fair job.” That’s what I want. And the guarantee in this particular tower is this: because I am selling you my name. And I want to be sure that you’ll have it and you will be satisfied with it from all aspects, like time-wise, quality-wise, service-after-sale wise which is very important for us—we are thinking about that from now. All of this, you see, will help us in promoting ourselves. Being in the market here today, we are not like going to be there, going to deliver a product which will really stay there with a brand, like you know that this is MAG. That’s what we are shooting for. This is a guarantee—other than the contract, other than all the insurance we are giving you, but more assurance is our name.

You know, cause we read about things, like in the newspaper about the Jumeirah Islands villas, that seem to have had a lot of problems. And Nakheel, such a big company, people would think that they just wouldn’t allow that kind of thing to happen. So you wonder, if Nakheel can’t control that, what about the smaller companies. How can they control that?

Uh, I cannot comment on that, but I can assure you we talk about ourselves. I mean I cannot talk about the others, but I can assure that when we build the tower and put our name on it, we have to fulfill the product as we promise you. Now, you could tell me what about we did not. You know, like in this particular case, Emaar, we don’t have the bank guarantee for the buyers as a third party. We have the same case in Nakheel. Now in Nakheel, because this is their rules, we did pay the bank guarantee as requested by Nakheel to cover the third party. Emaar did not ask, and all the other developers doing the same way. But if they ask, we pay it. But believe me, it is not the guarantee we are paying that’s committing us to do the job. No, we did it because it’s the rules. But the commitment is coming from us. Like if I say the catalog. We say the catalog of 218 is not a picture or an image. It’s something you will see and you will have within the same of 95% accuracy. Now, I did say that. (Pause) I know with you business-wise you said how can I sure, you could do anything else—and I said it’s our name.

And your name is right on the building so that’s…

Yeah, I mean, maybe this is, it’s not a commitment but that’s what we are saying. And if somebody else, Nakheel or Emaar or anybody else developers--he did not comment--I cannot really say anything about it. We’re talking about ours. And let me tell you this, Bruce. You know, in the progress of the job—like if I give you 214—214 today the people, I feel them relax. Why? Because they start seeing something like what we were telling them. Like we signed already the contract with Otis, we did already the sign with Caramex, we did sign with Heiser for the fittings. All those things start, they see it.

And I think something good for you, you can see in 214—why I’m talking about 214, because this will give you a hint about us. We have hopefully in March or April next year, we’ll make a model. Model means, we’ll furnish one of the apartments inside the tower--fully. Wherein we talk about furnishing that fully with some components, which will show you a life—apartment life—the living room, etc. Just to give you the feeling. We’re doing that mainly just to show the people, you know. Because sometimes we say, we write catalogs, but it’s not like you see it pysically. And you say, “This is a sample; this is what you’re getting.” Hopefully, this will give a good indication about what you could have in 218.

I mean, really, if I’m in the shoes of the customer, I will have the same doubt as you said because of the performance of some other developers. But you see, this is like everywhere in the world. You have A, B, C, D. We’d like to be in the A for sure.

How much of the building process is MAG PDD willing to share with the purchasers? For example, can we as purchasers have access to the financial records of the company, detailing what’s being paid for, to whom and how much, and these kinds of details?

Very good, very good. See, this maybe prove one of the things I was telling you about. We have nothing to hide here. Like you like a buyer. You buy me an apartment. I will open my boardrooms to you. I will open you even my balance sheets. I have nothing to hide. To show you our solidity. You know, we have nothing to hide. Like this land, we bought for it in full. The land has been paid for in full to Emaar by our company. We can give you the whole banks we are dealing with. We will say, “Please, Bruce, go and check with the bank, like Arab Bank, HSBC, Mashreq Bank, ask them about us. Ask them about our chairman reputation as the leader of this company. How do you think about him? Are we fulfilling our commitments? You can check that. As a matter of fact, this is helping us in selling ourselves.

I’ll tell you a story. One the agents we were dealing, and when we start 218—this was in the beginning—you know, I was just going around the agents and they said, “Mohammad, this will not sell.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Apartments are very expensive.” I said, “But who said that we want to sell the apartments like that? Like how much is it withdrawn on the phone?” I was, you know, talking from common sense point of view. See, they know most of the people like that. He said, “80% of the market here asking how much without even seeing what is there.” And he said—then I told him, “Know what? We want to sell the 20%. I’m not interested in 80%.” And that’s the fact. We can sell. And we want to sell to people who ask, “Who, why, who is the designer, look with us, discuss the design, discuss the orientation, discuss the material finishes, further discuss the commitment, the reliability, the contract.” We need to deal with these people. The people who are asking, “How much,” we cannot serve them.

Because they’re only looking at one thing.

Exactly. You see, that’s why—going back to the point—we want you to ask us. We can show you… I mean today you’re coming to me to buy an apartment. I’ll deal with you the same way as if you’re coming to buy the whole tower. I mean, this tower value’s around 550 million (dhs). We receive some of those investors, where of course those people they ask, “What is this, what is that?” Believe me I will give you the same treatment, even if you buy one apartment. Why, because it’s the same money. He has 550, you have half million, but I will deal with you the same way. That’s why, quote me, “We have no problem exposing all the—whatever you like to know about us—financially, technically, you know...”

That’s very good to hear. I mean, some things wouldn’t be our business as buyers, but the things that concern the tower, then we need to know.

Yes, yes, actually, if I’m a buyer—I want to buy an apartment—I’d be very much concerned to know who’s the developer. And that’s why I agree with you.

Yes, yes—who’s the builder, who’s the contractor and all these type of things. OK, I’d like to go on now to another topic which is guarantees. How can buyers be assured of the longevity of the tower. Is there a guarantee that it will last a minimum number of years? Does such a thing exist in the market?

Here we go back to the international standard. I mean, you know Dubai, in this part of the world, most of the specifications more or less goes to a British standard, which is a point coming out from FEDIC for the contractual issues, etc. If you talk about this tower, like any tower, you know, the age of any tower will be not less than 60 years. See here what you have, we have talk about what you call the facility management, which part of the facility management is the maintenance. If you make conventional maintenance, like let’s assume there’s a leak somewhere. Imagine if this leak is not treated in the proper time, it will make a big damage. I mean, the building will not fall down, but it will make a damage. I mean, mainly you talk about the “M-E-P” which is mechanical, electrical and plumbing works. This has to be taken care of very much and this is what is really, I believe the, key of the tower. You see, it has to be like using the right piping, the right wiring, the right air-con ducts—because if you don’t do that, you could end up in a lot of trouble.

Yes, and you can’t really take it out once you…

It can be but it would be very expensive, you see. There’s nothing that cannot be done but the cost and the time. That’s why we are looking for all of this when we do the design and do the specification for the material. As I said, it’s not less than 60 years, it can stay forever. Now look at certain towers or buildings in Europe. It’s there for the last 250 years. But those, they’re not standing there by itself. There is some maintenance which is going through the facility management to be done, mainly in a prevention way, not a treatment way. We should not wait till the things starting to… Like if you talk about pumps, not any pump in the world would run for—maybe it has a 20 years or 5 years, or certain parts of this pump has to be changed. That’s why really I will, when the time comes I have to plan this. This is mainly the job of the property management team. I mean managing a tower is not only cleaning and putting the security. It’s a long—maybe I can explain you something. When you take over, I mean as the committee, there’s something called a manual—the tower manual. It’s like this much (gesturing) book filled with a lot of guarantees, information about everything in the building. Where this committee has to follow up and see and and go through that and see what it has to be checked after 1 year, after 2 years—it’s a job by itself. But having as I said, a general, professional maintenance, sorry, facility management company, they can take over all of that.

Yes, ok. There are professionals…

And look at the swimming pool. How many items there are in the swimming pool? Cleaning, water treatment---see, unless you have the proper team to do that you could have something, big trouble in it.

I’d like to go now to the subject of service and maintenance fees. Whatever fees are decided upon for the first few years, is it possible for buyers to have an input in the process? I mean let’s say, cause the first year or so I think MAG PDD will decide those fees, but will the buyers have any input at that stage?

Absolutely. Actually, you know the first year, I think if you look in the contract, we say that the first year MAG PDD will get a property management company to manage the building within a revealed market value. You know if somebody do it for 100 dh, I’m ready to submit for 150 and vice versa. Within this year we will request you, as a buyer, to put certain money, let me say budget cost of 3000 or 2000 per apartment. And this money will not be paid to us. It will be paid to the account which is opened through the name of the committee, or for the tower called MAG. You make an account saying, “In MAG 218 tower this is the money.” Because I have no access to it, and it’s not for me, it’s for the tower. Now the buyers, it depends on how much they are able to come and take over that. He can come and take over that after six months, he can come and take it over after—but he have to take it over after one year. After one year we say this is all the records, what you want to do?

Then it’s up to the owners…

It’s absolutely up to the buyers, but you see to talk with 550, we have to make—you have to make an election, with say like Bruce is our chairman and X, Y, Z is the committee…

Camera cuts off, but interview continues for a few minutes more.

Go to Interview Detail (by points).
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MAG PDD General Manager Interview Details

2005-11-25T00:08:00.000+04:00

The following are excerpts from a 12 November 2005 interview with MAG PDD General Manager, Mohammed Nimer. In the interview Mr. Nimer elaborated on numerous aspects of the MAG 218 project and MAG PDD's commitment. See also the full transcript.

Building Design

“The design here took us like more than three to four months, having meetings with the designer, with the marketing specialist, who knew about the requirement, designs, etc.”

The building height:

“The height of the tower is around 275 meters. This is up to the top of the building. Of course this is including the cooling tower--without the antenna.”

Its cooling tower—at roof top:

“In the Marina Dubai, the air conditioning system is the chiller system, individually for each building, slightly different than Jumeirah Lake Towers which has district cooling system. That’s why here we have actually two technical floors—the 1st, the 31st—that’s where the machines, the equipment and the units where the cooling tower at the top. This is serving the tower for the air conditioning purposes.”

The architect:

“We have Dar Handasah. We have one of the best architects actually from Dar Handasah. His name is Sama’an Fouly.”

Various design decisions and features:

(The entrance)

“When we did the design, we tried to be as much as we can practical in what we are doing. Like from the day you come in from the entrance, which we did not make such big fancy entrance, but we did make a double void which gives you like seven meters height, and when you come out in the lobby.”

(Unit types)

“In this particular tower we decided to make it one- and two-bedroom, in different sizes like 80 sq. meter, 160 meter for two-bedroom, after we add the balconies. And the reason for that mainly is we are targeting certain type of customers like here I’d say above-average rank of workers, of expatriates who can afford the living and could be in the nearby area like Dubai Internet City, American University of Dubai, Media City… That’s why we did not make any studios, we did not make any 3-bedrooms or penthouses. Because that’s what we believe will be best for the area.”

(Particulars of the One-Bedroom Unit)

“You have to have an entrance, where you open the door you will have a certain corridor before you step inside the actual apartment. Having the guest toilets near the main door is also an issue. Having a master bedroom there is also something a must where we have nothing less than 16 sq. meter each bedroom, without (excluding) the wardrobe, without the bathroom. And I believe this give you, what you call the human, the feeling design. When putting you in a bedroom of 3 by 3, I believe this is not healthy. That’s why our rooms is almost more than 16 square meter, at least.

Now you go to the living room, even having a living room with the dining in one-bedroom, where you come in from the main door to the living room, in and out, even if the doors of the bedroom is open, you can’t see nobody. Because the location of the doors here has been selected in a way to give you the privacy.

Now coming back to the kitchen, actually the kitchen took us some time to decide how we will design it, since we don’t know really know what type of culture those tenants coming from. That’s why we make it in a way, maybe European or American-style way where you have an open kitchen like a bar, and maybe somebody don’t like it. That’s why we put this sliding shutter where it can separate the lady or whoever in the kitchen from the living room and vice-versa.

Again, to utilize the kitchen in the best way by millimeters. That’s why we decide to fully furnish it, where you really have nothing to worry about such as a fridge, the washing and drying machine and the stove. Now again here, we say maybe not everybody like to have a dishwasher. That’s why we put only the provision of the dishwasher where the tenant can fix it there—we have the facilities.”

(Particulars of the Two-Bedroom Unit)

“Now when you come to the two bedroom, two-bedroom actually we add a balcony. Actually I say a balcony (not pictured), it’s not a balcony. It’s like a small terrace—2.1 by 9 meter almost. This also we give like an open area to each individual tenant, and at the same time here it gives the area a total like around 160 for the two-bedroom, if you add the balcony to it.

Again here we consider something as one of our trend in the design like when you go more than one bedroom you have to have a store. The store here we call it in English “den,” which can be used like a computer room, it can be a store, it can be a house maid… It’s up to the tenant to do that.

Again we have better, I’m sorry, bigger kitchen because of the area, and that’s why we really think this is the most practical design.”

(Apartment Access)

“There’s one more thing, actually I’m thinking about the design always, like from the time you come out of the elevator, and you come out of the elevator to your apartment, you will not walk more than maximum 7 meters. You will not go in a long corridor like a hospital corridor or hotel corridor.

This is also part of the design where we can design the core in a way that it’s smaller as much as we can.

The same time here we consider the lifting system. In Dubai today I can assure you that most of the towers, the waiting time in the elevator’s lifting system is really beyond the standard—the international standard. Here we are looking for it in this way, that the waiting time should not exceed 40 to 45 seconds. And the only way you can do that, by having a proper traffic study for that. Like in this tower in particular we have six plus one, where three of each will go only for certain level like the left will go to the first 30 floors, while the other three will go from 30 onwards. While you have the service floor which it takes for the furniture for all.”

Facilities

On-site:

“In this tower which we have 550 apartments… we think, ‘What could those tenants need?’

They need a recreation center which we have. They need an open door area for barbeque or open-door activities. We have the event hall which can serve more than one function at the same time, or one function for a big event. At the same time we have the swimming pool with open-door Jacuzzi.”

In the Vicinity:

“Just beside the tower we have a mall which will be constructed by Emaar, which hopefully will be completed in the same time we are completing the job.

This also gives a value to the construction location where almost you will not drive without going to work, and if you’re lucky working in the Media City you will not use your car at all.

…We are not on the front, waterfront view, but we are open from three sides like the intersection both sides, the mall one side. And the only side which we have a tower, which is one side near Sheikh Zayed Road.”

Smart Home:

“You have to go back to the cost. Here we did it in a way that if the tenant like to add those options onwards, he can do it himself.”

The Name

“What’s behind the name actually, we like to give the feeling to the buyer that we are here.
We are going not in one tower. We have at least now six, seven towers. And when we think about what name we have to put, the names are so much crowded in Dubai, there’s nothing not used so far… and it goes about the marina, sky, garden, sea, water, something like that. And that’s what we thought, since we have a long trip in development that’s why we said, “Let’s put in a series, using even number.” And that’s why we started 214, 218, etc. That’s where the name comes from and I think we can be easily distinguished even in the future. Like if you say, “I’m living in MAG 218,” it will be easier to know than what is the name.”

The Location

“You see here everything has a value. First, in the Marina the available plots is very much limited, and we encountered that we have more than three, four choices. We choose this one in particular because we believe the location is very good. As in the mouth of the Marina, being in the main intersection, with the value we paid and the price we are selling to the tenants, I think it was a good combination. And that’s why you come out with this location.”

Building Management (Post-Construction)

“Actually in the MAG 218 we did not make up our mind who would be the management team for this. We agree it’s too early to talk about it now, but we will have a management company—good one. Somebody in ASTECO’s level, where they will manage if for the first year. The reason we are doing that, because this is what you call in English, the “fixed liability period.” Because we are in charge of it through the contractor and the supplier and all this team of construction for one year from the date of the successful completion time. We take it over in that period because we want to give space, room, time for the clients to come in.

As you know in the contract there is an explanation about constitution rules where you want to do that. We’ll give you time to do the committee, the election. We’ll do this for, only for the first year. With this company which we select, we as a developer, it will be a committee choice to continue with them. If we change the system, maybe do something different than what we propose, and take it over for the next year.

Let me give you an example. In the management, like we have to get the best company for cleaning, good service company for security for the 24 hours. Like I have in my mind we have to put a receptionist at the entrance to the building. We have to put a full-time staff for the building management system room, which control the whole tower. I’m thinking to put a lifeguard in the swimming pool. We have to put some reception in the community floor. All this is in my mind as the developer, but you could say we don’t need this, we don’t need that. It’s your choice—a choice here of the committee.”

Issues of Sales

Other Investors:

“No, I mean we are the developer and we have nobody else besides. That’s why we have relation direct with the buyers now in this tower.”

The Targeted Buyer:

“I’ll tell you a story. One the agents we were dealing, and when we start 218—this was in the beginning—you know, I was just going around the agents and they said, “Mohammad, this will not sell.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Apartments are very expensive.” I said, “But who said that we want to sell the apartments like that? Like how much is it withdrawn on the phone?” I was, you know, talking from common sense point of view. See, they know most of the people like that. He said, “80% of the market here asking how much without even seeing what is there.” And he said—then I told him, “Know what? We want to sell the 20%. I’m not interested in 80%.” And that’s the fact. We can sell. And we want to sell to people who ask, “Who, why, who is the designer, look with us, discuss the design, discuss the orientation, discuss the material finishes, further discuss the commitment, the reliability, the contract.” We need to deal with these people. The people who are asking, “How much,” we cannot serve them.”

Sale of Multiple Units to Larger Investors:

“From our perspective, you see, we have this tower for sale. Some customers come as individuals for flats, some of them come for investment. Now here, if I sell you the flat and sign the contract with you, it’s yours. You can do anything you want with it. You can rent it, you can sell it. All of that is listed in the contract, in the purchase sale. Now, going for, we know sometimes that investors come to us to buy. Now, we sell it. Of course here the price we are selling—you know if we sell you one apartment it’s different than if we sell you ten apartments or twenty. There are some developers or some investors buying from us, negotiating with us what floors. They want to buy five floors, two floors, ten floors here—maybe we have a little bit more flexible terms with them, we have maybe better price for them. We believe it as a whole price. Now, we know very well that those people will take it from us and re-sell it. Which is, I mean, this is their choice.”

Rise in Price/Value:

“In 218 today we have a campaign for sale till the end of the year. And the fact we have the intention to increase the price, by certain limit, from that time…

You see here, I’m selling like I’m giving a chance to the buyer come out till the end of the year to take the chance—or to buy as if I am buying pre-launch price. Now this will help me increase the sale. Then whoever comes after that will buy, he will pay the new price, which is much more, not much—it will be more than the price which you bought now, yourself.

There is another thing, there is a rules of what’s going on in Dubai. I estimate that when the rules comes out, defining the exact rules… Maybe, I expect that maybe the price will go up by 10%. Because there are so many people who want to buy but they are not sure about the rules, when the rules come out—I don’t know how it will come out—which way. But if it come out, really, in a good way where people will be more attracted to buy, I’m telling you it will increase the price by at least 10 percent.”

Maintenance & Service Fees

If Many Units Go Un-sold:

“This scenario is not valid, technically, not valid. Because, you see, I mean the tower is built there. I mean if you ask me like a developer, I mean, we have—always you have to make plan. And the worst plan is like—I can’t say worst plan—but it’s one of the scenarios, it’s not worse or good. If I—cause I’m proceeding with the construction, irrelevant if I sell or not. Now, suppose I am proceeding now, as I am doing, and they leave 20%, 30%, 50% not sold. Always there is a precautionary plan where we put this in rent and we take it over ourselves. That’s the way out.

Even if you don’t rent it, still this will be theirs. Because the fees you are paying is equal in pro rata to your square foot size. I mean, it’s not from any apartments there. Suppose there is 10 apartments there. This means you will pay for the 550? No. Definitely you will pay for the footage.”

Owners’ Input:

“It’s absolutely up to the buyers, but you see to talk with 550, we have to make—you have to make an election, with say like Bruce is our chairman and X, Y, Z is the committee…

Actually, you know the first year, I think if you look in the contract, we say that the first year MAG PDD will get a property management company to manage the building within a revealed market value. You know if somebody do it for 100 dh, I’m ready to submit for 150 and vice versa. Within this year we will request you, as a buyer, to put certain money, let me say budget cost of 3000 or 2000 per apartment. And this money will not be paid to us. It will be paid to the account which is opened through the name of the committee, or for the tower called MAG. You make an account saying, “In MAG 218 tower this is the money.” Because I have no access to it, and it’s not for me, it’s for the tower. Now the buyers, it depends on how much they are able to come and take over that. He can come and take over that after six months, he can come and take it over after—but he have to take it over after one year. After one year we say this is all the records, what you want to do?”

Construction & Management Issues

Protecting the Tower’s Foundations:

“Actually you see here, when you talk about design, design is always related to zones, and each zone has their criteria for design. Like going from the earthquake frequent study or happening or occurrence, all of this will be considered. I give an example. In this one we are going in piles, because we cannot do other than piles with such height. Now, I don’t know if I can tell you. The piles go up to 50 meters deep. where you will reach the solid layer, and you know, you are always building in water, and salt and sand. You are just like less than 4 or 500 meter away from the sea. It’s normal. What I want to tell you, the standards which will be used in such construction is within that parameters, and in all those conditions you talk about. And this is I think international standards.”

Dealing with Sudden Cost Increases:

“You cannot be away from what’s going on the market. Like if I have a—this tower. Let me say that I have in this particular tower, 550 I’m selling. But suppose I’m in 200th apartment sale, I still have 350, the prices really go up. What I will do? I have the right only to increase the price of what’s available. But the people who bought—the deal is done. As if, you see, I’m taking a chance, the buyers taking a chance.

I can tell you facts that when we did make the bids with the study for that project, the prices which we know in that time increased at least, at least by 15 to 20%. Maybe we were expecting 10%, but not 15 or 20. But here, you see, this--I mean this will not stop us from continuing. The only effect we have here is that it will reduce our profit, and we have to live with that.

Always when you do a visibility study, you always have to have cash cushions. Now we will loose some of those cushions. That’s all. But this will not really stop you or ask or let the buyer or user really suffer from that.”

Assurances of Quality:

“Here where, if you remember what I told you before, today in Dubai there is so many developers. We are one of them. And here we are saying by the finishing, when we sell you an apartment, we are selling you a brand—which is our name. Like today I can maybe sell you an apartment and you say, “Oh, what is this? MAG is doing a fair job.” That’s what I want. And the guarantee in this particular tower is this: because I am selling you my name. And I want to be sure that you’ll have it and you will be satisfied with it from all aspects, like time-wise, quality-wise, service-after-sale wise which is very important for us—we are thinking about that from now. All of this, you see, will help us in promoting ourselves. Being in the market here today, we are not like going to be there, going to deliver a product which will really stay there with a brand, like you know that this is MAG. That’s what we are shooting for. This is a guarantee—other than the contract, other than all the insurance we are giving you, but more assurance is our name.

I can assure that when we build the tower and put our name on it, we have to fulfill the product as we promise you.

Now, you could tell me what about we did not. You know, like in this particular case, Emaar, we don’t have the bank guarantee for the buyers as a third party. We have the same case in Nakheel. Now in Nakheel, because this is their rules, we did pay the bank guarantee as requested by Nakheel to cover the third party. Emaar did not ask, and all the other developers doing the same way. But if they ask, we pay it.

But believe me, it is not the guarantee we are paying that’s committing us to do the job. No, we did it because it’s the rules. But the commitment is coming from us. Like if I say the catalog. We say the catalog of 218 is not a picture or an image. It’s something you will see and you will have within the same of 95% accuracy. Now, I did say that. I know with you business-wise you said how can I sure, you could do anything else—and I said it’s our name.”

You know, in the progress of the job—like if I give you 214—214 today the people, I feel them relax. Why? Because they start seeing something like what we were telling them. Like we signed already the contract with Otis, we did already the sign with Caramex, we did sign with Heiser for the fittings. All those things start, they see it.

And I think something good for you, you can see in 214—why I’m talking about 214, because this will give you a hint about us. We have hopefully in March or April next year, we’ll make a model. Model means, we’ll furnish one of the apartments inside the tower--fully. Wherein we talk about furnishing that fully with some components, which will show you a life—apartment life—the living room, etc. Just to give you the feeling. We’re doing that mainly just to show the people, you know. Because sometimes we say, we write catalogs, but it’s not like you see it pysically. And you say, “This is a sample; this is what you’re getting.” Hopefully, this will give a good indication about what you could have in 218.”

The Longevity of the Project:

“Here we go back to the international standard. I mean, you know Dubai, in this part of the world, most of the specifications more or less goes to a British standard, which is a point coming out from FEDIC for the contractual issues, etc. If you talk about this tower, like any tower, you know, the age of any tower will be not less than 60 years.

See here what you have, we have talk about what you call the facility management, which part of the facility management is the maintenance. If you make conventional maintenance, like let’s assume there’s a leak somewhere. Imagine if this leak is not treated in the proper time, it will make a big damage. I mean, the building will not fall down, but it will make a damage. I mean, mainly you talk about the “M-E-P” which is mechanical, electrical and plumbing works. This has to be taken care of very much and this is what is really, I believe the, key of the tower. You see, it has to be like using the right piping, the right wiring, the right air-con ducts—because if you don’t do that, you could end up in a lot of trouble.

There’s nothing that cannot be done but the cost and the time. That’s why we are looking for all of this when we do the design and do the specification for the material. As I said, it’s not less than 60 years, it can stay forever. Now look at certain towers or buildings in Europe. It’s there for the last 250 years. But those, they’re not standing there by itself. There is some maintenance which is going through the facility management to be done, mainly in a prevention way, not a treatment way. We should not wait till the things starting to… Like if you talk about pumps, not any pump in the world would run for—maybe it has a 20 years or 5 years, or certain parts of this pump has to be changed. That’s why really I will, when the time comes I have to plan this.

This is mainly the job of the property management team. I mean managing a tower is not only cleaning and putting the security. It’s a long—maybe I can explain you something. When you take over, I mean as the committee, there’s something called a manual—the tower manual. It’s like this much (gesturing) book filled with a lot of guarantees, information about everything in the building. Where this committee has to follow up and see and and go through that and see what it has to be checked after 1 year, after 2 years—it’s a job by itself. But having as I said, a general, professional maintenance, sorry, facility management company, they can take over all of that.

And look at the swimming pool. How many items there are in the swimming pool? Cleaning, water treatment---see, unless you have the proper team to do that you could have something, big trouble in it.

Regarding Reports of Problems in Other Projects:

“I cannot comment on that, but I can assure you we talk about ourselves. I mean I cannot talk about the others… if somebody else, Nakheel or Emaar or anybody else developers--he did not comment--I cannot really say anything about it.

I mean, really, if I’m in the shoes of the customer, I will have the same doubt as you said because of the performance of some other developers. But you see, this is like everywhere in the world. You have A, B, C, D. We’d like to be in the A for sure.”

Accountability, Transparency and Commitment to the Buyer

“This maybe prove one of the things I was telling you about. We have nothing to hide here. Like you like a buyer. You buy an apartment. I will open my boardrooms to you. I will open you even my balance sheets. I have nothing to hide, to show you our solidity. You know, we have nothing to hide. Like this land, we bought for it in full. The land has been paid for in full to Emaar by our company. We can give you the whole banks we are dealing with. We will say, “Please, Bruce, go and check with the bank, like Arab Bank, HSBC, Mashreq Bank, ask them about us. Ask them about our chairman reputation as the leader of this company. How do you think about him? Are we fulfilling our commitments? You can check that. As a matter of fact, this is helping us in selling ourselves.

You see, that’s why—going back to the point—we want you to ask us. We can show you… I mean today you’re coming to me to buy an apartment. I’ll deal with you the same way as if you’re coming to buy the whole tower. I mean, this tower value’s around 550 million (dhs). We receive some of those investors, where of course those people they ask, “What is this, what is that?” Believe me I will give you the same treatment, even if you buy one apartment. Why, because it’s the same money. He has 550, you have half million, but I will deal with you the same way. That’s why, quote me, “We have no problem exposing all the—whatever you like to know about us—financially, technically.”

Other Topics

The interview covered the topics raised above. However it extended beyond what was recorded on camera. A few additional points were also discussed:

Emaar has no input regarding the question of maintenance and service fees. One reason being that the MAG 218 property is separate from any of the facilities managed directly by Emaar such as the marina promenade.
Regarding ASTECO’s role as sole sales agent being eliminated, this was largely due to MAG PDD’s belief that the company, perhaps due to its own ever-growing commitments, was unable or unwilling to give the project its due attention. This was very much a business decision on the part of MAG PDD.
Regarding MAG PDD’s other projects, the MAG 214 is presently under construction with work on the MAG 218 very soon to commence. Although there are other projects in the pipeline, the company intends to place priority on the two current works.
MAG PDD has short-listed the elevator contract to two very reputable firms, as well as choice for the main contractor. Its priority is apparently to secure the most highly rated firms possible while balancing its budgetary requirements.

Conclusion

The interview presented a real opportunity to gain access to the developer, not only making it possible to learn about what is happening with the project, but also making it possible to have some input as a buyer. Therefore, it represented a two-way exchange and seems to measure up to MAG PDD’s stated objective of working with“future partners.”

Bruce Dauphin (website manager)

Go to Interview Transcript.
Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

The MAG 218 Environment

2005-11-10T16:48:00.000+04:00

Assuming the MAG 218 satisfies one's personal requirements for price and location, then what remains to be considered are the unique characteristics of the neighborhood wherein the tower lies. What will the views be like? How convenient will it be for transportation services, shopping and leisure activity? Much more important than the question of what is there now is the question of what will be there in 3 years when the tower is completed, and beyond. The sales brochure refers to a strategic location, but it is impossible to judge from this alone the true merits of the location. One who is unable to personally visit the site and just as importantly research the Internet cannot possibly get an accurate picture of what the surroundings have to offer. Some of the general characteristics discussed in the Dubai Marina vs Other Dubai Locations section of A Broader Perspective provides some of the picture. What follows is more specific detail on the characteristics and features of the MAG 218 neighborhood.

Peek Into the Future

Location..., Location... is an earlier post which provides an image of the area surrounding the MAG 218 site as it appears in October 2005. Transportation Improvements for Dubai Marina details some of the exceptional transportation systems that will be put into place over the coming years. In short, the MAG 218 will be ideally located in terms of transportation and what the Dubai Marina has to offer. This is no exaggeration and one of the strong selling points of both this tower and those around it. There are even more reasons why this particular location within the Dubai Marina is, if not the very best, certainly among the better placements.

Transportation Systems at Hand

The Dubai Marina is set to be serviced with a Dubai Metro Line (an advanced, driver-less underground and above ground commuter railway) running from the Dubai Creek area, joining Sheikh Zayed Road and eventually reaching Jebel Ali. Completion date for the first phase of the project is set for late 2008/early 2009, with a stop at the American University of Dubai--about a half-kilometer walk from the MAG 218 tower location. This is to be followed by an expansion of the railway, with a Dubai Marina stop next in line. This station will probably be within 200 or 300 meters of the MAG 218 tower.

In addition to the metro line, two tram lines running along Sufouh Road are planned. These lines will run through the Marina, possibly connecting with the metro and crossing into the Jumeirah Lake Towers district. It is also likely to connect with a monorail system proposed for the Jumeirah Palm. Sufouh Road runs less than a hundred meters from the MAG 218 tower, parallel to the coast.

Additionally, extensive roadway projects are underway. The SZR No. 5 Interchange, nearly adjacent to the MAG 218 tower, is being re-constructed. Sufouh Road is being widened with a new bridge to be built across the marina's sea channel, and a new road (possibly an extension of the road running alongside the MAG 218 tower) will be constructed offering a 3rd artery into Dubai to run parallel to the sea coast.

The Waterway

Of course, the hallmark of Dubai Marina is the marina waterway itself. The objective of nearly every structure in the Marina district is to claim a choice spot along the edges of the marina. Standing at the head (or Dubai end) of the 4 kilometer long marina, the MAG 218 tower is not situated at water's edge. It is removed by about 100 meters--across a road and between two facing towers. The Marina is also juxtaposed near the Arabian Gulf coast, but beach access is largely restricted by the presence of resort hotels along the shore and a boat yard. The nearest public beach access to the MAG 218 tower is perhaps a kilometer away. These points notwithstanding, the MAG 218 tower still occupies a prime location near one end of the marina. It places the Marina promenade within easy reach.

Views

For some this will be the most sensitive issue. Why one chooses to live in a high-rise apartment tower is largely a function of the views it has to offer. Every single tower in the Dubai Marina has to grapple with the question of views.

The Marina: As mentioned above the hallmark of the Marina is the marina waterway itself. Offering clear views of the marina is therefore one of the first priorities of any Dubai Marina tower. How does the MAG 218 Tower rate in this regard? Like the majority of towers at either end of the marina, only one side of the MAG 218 will be marina-facing. All indications are that the MAG 218 tower will offer a clear or only partially-obstructed view of the marina from its front side. Units more toward the seaside end of the tower will most likely have the unobstructed view whereas those toward the SZR end may have their views partially obstructed by the Marina Heights tower, already constructed. It is unclear as to whether an additional tower will be built directly across the road from the MAG 218, adjacent to the Marina Heights. If so, it would further block views of the Marina allowing a clear view only from those units at the top floors (which will rise above the level of the Marina Heights tower). This is presuming that the new tower is also of lesser height than the MAG 218. It seems more likely that a new tower will not be built opposite the front side of the MAG 218, thereby leaving the marina views mostly unobstructed. Indications are that a low-rise shopping mall may be built on this plot.

The Seacoast: The next most sought after views are those of the sea. This view from the MAG 218 will be largely obstructed--first of all by the 70+ storey Pinnacle tower, less than 50 meters away. At an angle toward the front side of the MAG 218 tower and across the road will rise the 100+ storey Princess tower, thereby blocking an angled view as well. Toward the back end of the tower it may be possible to get angled views of the seacoast and parts of the Jumeirah Palm island, but only from the higher floors of the MAG 218 which will rise above some of the Sufouh Road towers. Despite all of this, there may be some limited sea-views at angles between buildings, especially from the higher floors of the MAG 218. Even marina-facing units on the front side of the tower may have angled views of the sea. The same can be said for Dubai city-facing units on the back end of the building. They are in fact rather likely to have some angled views of the seacoast and parts of the Jumeirah Palm from higher floors.

Dubai Pearl, Media City, etc: The backside of the MAG 218 tower will be facing Dubai city, however, the city itself will be too far in the distance to actually permit views. On a clear day one may glimpse the Burj Dubai, tallest building in the world, but at some 10 or 15 kilometers away, it will also probably be too distant. There should, however, be some partially obstructed views of the Pearl (a tower development at the entrance to the Palm Jumeirah island) and some of the low-rise developments including Media City, the Internet City and the American University of Dubai. In addition, views across Sheikh Zayed Road to one side and to parts of the Jumeirah Palm may be visible at angles.

SZR, the Springs (villas development) & Jumeirah Lake Towers: There will probably be partial- to completely unobstructed views in this direction. As the new SZR No. 5 Interchange is being constructed in this area there will not be sufficient place for many towers to rise, although there could be some. Even so, views from this side will at worst be only partially obstructed.

Towers, towers and more towers: Despite the fact that some desired views will be partially or largely obstructed, what one is likely to be able to appreciate, especially from higher floors, are the views of other towers. Some of the towers surrounding the MAG 218 will be simply spectacular, including up to two 100+ storey towers, a 90+ storey tower, an 80+ storey tower and a 70+ storey tower. Not only in their heights, but some of these towers will be of quite incredible designs. The front side of the MAG 218 tower (marina-facing side) will offer the most stunning spectacle of towers running the length of the marina, including at some distance the tangle of Jumeirah Beach Residences. Even the SZR side of the MAG 218 tower should offer impressive views, at an angle, of the Jumeirah Lake Towers development. In total, as far as views go, the MAG 218 tower has good placement--even though the most sought after views (of the marina and sea) may be partially or largely obstructed. On two sides right beside the tower are wide, low-traffic roads. Immediately adjacent on the other two sides will rise a low-rise shopping center. This means that even low-level floors will have partially open views, from every side of the building.

New Shopping Mall: It has just been officially confirmed that a large mall or shopping center complex will be constructed adjacent to the MAG 218 tower on two sides and perhaps in front as well. Besides allowing for more unobstructed views due to the low height of such a structure, the shopping mall will make the MAG 218 and surrounding towers among the most convenient places to live within the Dubai Marina.

Summary

In terms of shopping, views, access to transportation systems and proximity to the Dubai Marina waterway, the MAG 218 tower has one the most ideal locations within not only the Dubai Marina, but the entire city of Dubai. This is not to say that it has the best location, but it ranks high in many categories. An apparently very popular choice of residences in the Marina, for example, is the Marina Heights tower just across from the front side of the MAG 218. It's marina-facing side offers one of the few completely unobstructed views of the marina waterway from ground floor to roof-top. In addition, a high floor in any of the surrounding 90 to 100+ storey towers would be truly magnificent.

Other Considerations Regarding Location

Air quality: In general, being a sea and waterside community, the Dubai Marina should offer better air quality than many of the more inland developments, however, not as pristine as the island developments. One caveat, however, would be on the Jebel Ali side of the Marina which is next to Dubai's largest power plant. Not only is the air quality in that area affected, but the views of high-suspension wires, their supporting towers and smoke stacks are quite unappealing.

Landscaping and greenery: The MAG 218 area as well as all parts of the Marina and other new developments across Dubai should rate high in this regard. It may seem obvious that attractive streets and lawns should go hand in hand with the construction of new towers and villas, but in the emirate and city of Sharjah (next door to Dubai), new condominiums and apartment towers are built all around the city not only without greenery or landscaping, but often even without parking lots or roads! One just ploughs through the desert parking his car at whatever convenient patch of sand he can find.

Security: Like all upscale developments in Dubai, security should not at all be an issue. Every building in the Dubai Marina is bound to have security personnel and watchmen at entrances and other locations within. Their presence, even without the show of any kind of force or significant authority, seems to be sufficient to keep trouble at bay. As an additional security measure towers can easily be outfitted with security cameras.

Schools, places of worship, cultural facilities, etc: Dubai Marina like most other new developments tend not to have any visible centers for worship. Most towers and other buildings, do however, have prayer rooms for Muslims. Schools may be found in some of the villa developments but cannot usually be found within the tower developments, including Dubai Marina. Cultural facilities are also generally lacking especially in the new developments, but also throughout Dubai. It is a young metropolis, perhaps too busy growing up to pay attention to its roots and multitude of cultural influences. More priority is placed on the erection of shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, fitness centers and other trappings of contemporary lifestyle. As with mosques, however, many towers will have community halls. What use is made of them will depend on the motivation of residents. Even medical facilities do not appear to be coming up in the new developments, at least not in the early phases. However, like some large hotels, some towers may have their own resident General Practitioner.

Conclusion

Taking into consideration the numerous factors that uniquely characterize the location of the MAG 218 tower and the Dubai Marina as a location in general, one ought to be impressed. However, there is little to distinguish the MAG 218 tower from nearby towers within the Marina in this regard. Except for the Jebel Ali end of the Marina or those towers in close proximity to the wall or jungle of the JBR towers, most locations within the Marina offer similar advantages. It must be said, however, that proximity to the new Marina shopping mall is an added and significant advantage. In this regard whether one chooses the MAG 218 tower, the Marina Heights tower, the Pinnacle, the Torch, the Princess tower or any of the other impressive towers in the area should be a question of the particular features and prices at the given tower and the peculiar vantage point of particular units.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

To the prospective buyer~ A Broader Perspective

2005-11-09T02:37:00.000+04:00

Some may be looking for a home, a temporary residence or a vacation property, others an investment that will increase in value over time. For still others an apartment or villa purchase in Dubai can represent both, good accommodation and good investment. Alternatively, many readers of this site may not be anywhere near the point of buying anything but are nonetheless curious about the process.

The following discussion presents a broader framework in which to view a possible purchase at the MAG 218 Tower. What does one whose interest has been piqued need to consider after he or she has seen the architectural renders or read about the project's features? Unfortunately, perhaps, buying property is a very emotional experience. Once one sees something he likes the power of the imagination tends to take over and obscure rational thinking. Keeping this in mind it helps to take a step back early on in the process and look at a number of practical issues that must (or should) impact any decision.

Location & Price

Perhaps these are the two most important initial considerations. Price is a question of one's financial resources. It is seldom a cut and dry affair, as one can often work out a variety of payment schemes. It is best, however, to come up with as broad a range of what one can afford as possible. A not too conservative (and yet still achievable) range will allow one to more realistically eliminate that which is clearly out of reach while at the same time leave open a wide enough field to come close to finding one's ideal property.

Location is a question of both the buyer's individual requirements and the characteristics of the particular locale. The buyer's requirements relate to how one intends to use the property. For example, the resident buyer requires a property in either close proximity or with easy access to one's place of work, whereas the vacation-home buyer would be more concerned with proximity to leisure and recreational facilities.

Characteristics of the particular locale relate to environmental issues, such as in what surrounds the property or lies nearby. Do other buildings obstruct or enhance views? Do open spaces exist at all and are they attractive or an eyesore? Are there sufficient transportation options and are these a convenience or an annoying source of noise and pollution? Are skies clear or hazy, are there natural breezes and is there sufficient greenery?

What about issues of personal security? Details like these cannot be understood by simply viewing a sales brochure. In fact, many brochures present a misleading image of calm and aesthetic charm in the areas surrounding their developments, while often these are merely conceptual illustrations with little basis in fact.

In order to really understand the environmental setting one must be able to examine the actual site and its surroundings as well as gather information on planned future development in the area. The following provides such descriptions and offers comparisons, first on the Dubai Marina as a whole, then on the immediate vicinity of the MAG 218 Tower.

The Dubai Marina vs Other Dubai Locations

Although it is impossible within a brief presentation to provide a detailed comparison of the various locales around Dubai where freehold property is available, one can highlight what the Dubai Marina has to offer with some incidental comparisons.

Since its inception, the Dubai Marina has been planned as a residential and leisure community defined by a very urban dynamic. It contrasts with most of the villa developments around the city which are primarily sub-urban in nature. It differs also from the nearby Jumeirah Lake Towers development (similarly urban) which in place of the leisure component adds more of a business and commercial element, in conjunction with its residential focus. Other new developments like Business Bay and the Burj Dubai's new and old towns are set to focus even more on the business and commercial element.

The focus on leisure within the Marina suggests that one will find perhaps as many tourists out on streets in the evening as residents. This would make the Marina somewhat similar in nature to the Jumeirah Palm and other island developments off the coast which will also focus on holiday and leisure activities. However, these more exclusive developments will most likely have a higher ratio of tourist to resident occupant. Meanwhile, the Marina will also offer convenient access to the rest of the city with dedicated roads, highway interchanges and bus and rail services, most of which have already been announced with construction begun or soon to begin. The island developments, due to their deliberate focus on exclusivity, may mean a difficult commute to work for working residents. On the other hand they would certainly offer a more relaxing holiday experience.

The Cost of Living

Will the Dubai Marina be an expensive neighborhood? Probably yes, but so will nearly all of the other new urban developments. It will, of course, be cheaper than the island developments, and more convenient in terms of commuting and shopping than the villa developments. International City will probably be the only new district in Dubai to have cheap establishments for eating and shopping similar to that in the city's older districts of Deira, Bur Dubai, Karama, Satwa, etc.

Will the Dubai Marina be too urban--as in being over-crowded with buildings. pedestrians and road traffic? Probably not, as the marina waterway itself will add a sense of space and openness. The promenade along the marina will be expansive enough to accommodate a lot of pedestrian traffic and this along with a wide choice of transportation options--including perhaps water taxis--will tend to keep road traffic down. Signs are, however, that there will not be adequate parking for visitors and most towers seem set to provide sufficient parking for residents, but very little for guests. The remaining open spaces in the Marina are not likely to be spoilt with open parking facilities.

The nearby beach (most of what is available fronts the Jumeirah Beach Residences), will most likely be inundated with crowds, especially on more pleasant, cooler days. This is due to the dense cluster of towers which make up the Jumeirah Beach Residences--nearly 40 in all ranging in height from 25 to 45 storeys. A high percentage of residents there will probably be vacationers whose primary objective will be to spend time on the beach! So despite its proximity to the Arabian Sea, the ability of the Dubai Marina to offer good beach access will probably be spoilt by this over-built project.

How many people will live in the Marina? One can only guess as it is a question of how large and how many towers will eventually get built--estimates are around 200, including the JBR. Also a consideration is how many units will actually be sold and what percentage of them will be occupied by end users--either owner-residents, renters or the staff whose companies provide accommodation there. Speculation goes well above 100,000 total inhabitants. But if sales are low or fewer purchases end up in the hands of end-users then the numbers could be significantly lower. By way of example, the MAG 218 tower will be of above average size for a Marina towers, with a mix of 550 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. One might project a total resident population of well over 1000, were the tower fully sold and occupied by end users.

Conclusion

The advice for those considering the MAG 218 is that they consider whether the Dubai Marina is suited to the kind of lifestyle they prefer and can afford. Perhaps a suburban setting would have more appeal, or one may want to have more of the convenience that a real business district has to offer. Not yet mentioned are two even more expansive developments to be completed in the more distant future--one the multi-themed Dubai Land and the other, the Dubai Waterfront, a coastal and river-based project. The Waterfront will probably include some elements of the Dubai Marina, perhaps on a larger scale, along with a variety of other components, while Dubai Land will be centered around recreational, educational and entertainment parks and sporting venues. The most objective comparison to be made with these developments is that construction within the Dubai Marina will be mostly complete by the end of 2008, whereas these newer developments will probably be right in the heat of things at that time.

In the next section a closer look will be taken at the particular environmental features in the vicinity of the MAG 218. How does it compare to adjacent and more distant towers in the Marina--in terms of location.

Please proceed to The MAG 218 Environment

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About MAG 218 Tower Sales Pages

2005-10-19T16:46:00.000+04:00

This site is not affiliated with the developer.

That is to say the site has been set-up and is being maintained without any control or direction from the developer. Its primary objective is to provide further details about the MAG 218 Tower project, focusing on the kind of information potential buyers would most likely be interested in. It is meant to supplement the extensive collection of topics spread out over the MAG 218 Community website.

That being said, the developer has been approached and asked to provide information and details about the project. It is, of course, in the developer's (MAG Group's) interest to do so and any enquiries about purchase will be directed to them. It is in my (the website manager's) interest and the interest of other members of the MAG 218 Community to promote a wider awareness in the property as this might increase the value of all of our investments and lead to a more vibrant community.

Unlike any relatively disinterested 3rd party agent, myself and the members of the MAG 218 Community have a personal stake in the success of the MAG 218 Tower project apart from any profit motives. The MAG 218 Tower is a living space that we hope to share amicably with others for whatever number of years we decide to make our homes there.

Please note that these pages will deal primarily with the description and availability of units for sale. Numerous other pages within the MAG 218 Community website can provide more detail about the project as a whole, including photos, detailed descriptions, commentary and discussions.

For any further clarification or general inquiries please contact BD, website manager.

Go to MAG 218 Tower Sales page or MAG 218 Community homepage.

Buyers Beware!

2005-09-24T17:07:00.000+04:00

This is the alarming heading of a late August front page article in 7 Days. The gist of the story is that buildings in the UAE are perhaps not being built to last. It referred especially to villas which may begin to deteriorate in as little as 15 years. However, it goes on to advise that proper maintenance should enable the structure to avoid any major problems for 20 to 30 years. In fact, a well-maintained structure, including an apartment or office tower may be expected to survive 50 to 60 years on average.

The issue of salt being absorbed by the concrete foundations of structures through ground water was highlighted as a particular concern. The sandy desert soil presumably contains a great amount of salt and salt contamination is a more prevalent problem where landscaping features surrounding buildings are heavily irrigated. Such irrigation allows more salt to be absorbed from the sand by the buildings' concrete foundations. At sites directly exposed to sea breezes, as on the palm island developments, the issue of salt contamination is even more severe unless builders take extra care.

The article is useful in pointing out the necesity of proper maintenance, however, it leaves unanswered the question of how the purchaser, whether of a villa or apartment in a tower development, goes about implementing such maintenance.

Go to Construction Issues (News Index)
Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Construction Issues (News Index)

2005-07-19T11:35:00.000+04:00

Posts and News Links Which Discuss Construction Issues in the UAE

Construction and Materials Quality

The Big Question (full text of article)

Mid East Tall Building Standards Need To Be Improved In Wake Of 9/11 Says Leading Civil Engineering Company (full text of article)

Project Descriptions

Accidents and Workers' Issues

Article Excerpts & Full Copy

Construction worker killed at Dubai Media City

Big News Network.com Tuesday 10th May, 2005

A construction worker died after a concrete wall collapsed at a building site on Monday.

Two 33-story towers under construction at Dubai Media City was the scene for the mishap at about 10:00am. A 2.85 metre wall gave way burying a group of workers. A police rescue team was on the site within minutes and managed to save all the men but one.

Killed was Mahesh Kumar, 25, of India. Five others were injured in the accident.

It was the second fatality in Dubai in recent days. The city is undergoing an unprecedented construction boom with hundreds of towers through the emirate under construction, and hundreds more planned. Safety standards and tight deadlines set by developers have come under criticism in Dubai. Most counstruction workers are imported from Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, lured by employment opportunities or salaries greater than those on offer in their own countries.

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

Dubai Airport Accident Reflects Poor Safety Standards in UAE Construction Sector?

Illegal Migrant Workers

It is learned that many construction companies including the leading ones employ illegal migrant workers from Pakistan, India and Iran in risky construction sites as they will work for low salary without claiming many benefits given to a regular employee. In order to reduce labour cost and avoid providing benefits to regular workers, construction companies resort to employing "illegal workers." Thousands of such workers from Iran, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines help keep this huge, illegal secondary job market.

"I am afraid many of the workers affected by the accident are illegal workers from Pakistan and India. It is common practice to employ cheaper illegal workers by a chain of subcontracting companies which thrive due to visa shortage for big companies," said sources. According to workers, "construction sites in high security areas have separate entrance for Kalli Valli people. The contractors and subcontractors get special means to allow illegal workers to work even in high security construction sites. While the workers said there were around 300 people working in the site, the official figure is almost half. Observers indicated that part of the workers are illegal migrants who dont have any documents like visa, labour card or passport. Some of them could be working under different identities and it is difficult to assertain their real identity...

"Employing Kalli Valli people is common practice for subcontractors and contractors. Companies should be accountable," added sources. The UAE has been witnessing the presence of number of illegal workers and more than 14,000 Pakistanis took advantage of the four-month amnesty announced last year. When the UAE announced the first amnesty in 1996, about 75,000 illegal Indians returned home. Most people just destroy their passports and come back here on a new name and identity. The construction boom has created a new demand for such illegal migrants as companies can save on labour accommodation, group insurance coverage and other benefits given to regular staff...

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

Mid East Tall Building Standards Need To Be Improved In Wake Of 9/11 Says Leading Civil Engineering Company

10, Tuesday, September, 2002

Tall building design and construction standards in the Middle East, need to be improved to incorporate the lessons of last year's collapse of New York's World Trade Centre towers, according to Hyder Consulting, one of the world's leading civil engineering company.

The firm, an exhibitor at Cityscape 2002 - the international commercial architecture, property design and development show, to be held in Dubai, in December - says planners and developers need to look carefully at the regulations governing the structural integrity of future tall buildings.

"The attack on the World Trade Centre towers will have an effect on the desire to 'build tall' as the industry comes to terms both with what happened and the need to re-define standards for tall building design and construction," said Rod Stewart, Country Manager, Hyder Consulting, Dubai.

"Pre-September 11, British design codes were unique for considering disproportionate collapse of buildings due to accidental damage. In future, all codes will need to consider the vulnerability of buildings to collapse from accidental damage, natural disasters or terrorist attacks."

Hyder Consulting, lead consultant and structural and civil engineers on Dubai's Emirates Towers project, also believes planners and developers must pay greater attention to the whole life cost of projects, instead of seeking an immediate return, and sustainability, to ensure the best balance of cost, expediency and environmental impact.

"By taking more care with the design and construction and, if necessary, spending a little more on design, it is possible to create a development that will retain its usefulness and marketability for longer with lower maintenance costs," said Stewart.

"Issues of sustainability will impact on the planning of buildings and the use of materials, while the introduction of freehold ownership will influence the public's perception of the places in which they live, driving changes in the design of living spaces."

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

Task force to fight for labourers’ rights

Sunday, 25 September, 2005

by David Robinson (david.robinson@itp.com)

DUBAI Authorities have responded to concerns over the poor treatment of construction labourers across the emirate.

The issue was highlighted last week when about 1000 workers from the Al Hamed Company for Development and Projects gathered in the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road last Monday morning to demand unpaid wages, halting rush-hour traffic for more than an hour.

A task force, the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs, has been set up to tackle the problem and provide a forum and address difficulties experienced by labourers and their employers. Part of the service will provide an avenue for labourers to contact authorities if they are not being paid or feel their employers are unfairly abusing them.

“We will listen to the labourers and their problems and listen to the company managers their problems,” said Captain Fahd Al Awadi, from Dubai police’s human rights department, He agreed that construction labourers had been treated very badly in the emirate in the past, but assured that this was changing.

Al Awdhi said a common problem was that the construction firms experienced delays in payment from the contractors that had commissioned the projects. Therefore, they inevitability had to delay payment to the labours.

“Some companies have different projects and they invest in different sites so their cash flow will be spent all over the place, so then suddenly they have a shortage,” he said. Al Awdhi said it was the aim of the committee to make sure this stopped happening and that construction companies had the capital to fully support whatever projects they were undertaking. “You cannot run a company in this country without having funds in the bank,” he said.

The Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs is made up of officials from the police force, the municipality and the immigration department, amongst others.

Al Awdhi assured that the body would come down hard on any firms that deliberately avoided paying their workers. “There are companies which are frauds, they toy with people and use them.” He said, in such instances, the committee would help these workers find another sponsor.

Al Awdhi added that in many instances, it was possible for the committee to get construction companies to cough up unpaid wages within 48 hours.

The committee is compiling a list of all construction companies in Dubai, calling them up, looking at their salary situation, and the problems they faced.

Construction workers in Dubai are paid, on average, about 800 dirhams a month.

Al Awadi said the committee would be following up to make sure the workers involved in the protest on Sheikh Zayed Road received their overdue wages.

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

880 building deaths

Monday, 08 August 2005 (7 Days)

Around 880 workers died on building sites in the UAE last year, according to a report in regional trade magazine construction Week.

The figures, which work out an average of more than two deaths each day, have led to calls for construction companies and contractors to improve standards of health and safety and to follow the UAE’s standards and regulations which protect building workers.

According to the magazine, which surveyed a number of organisations and embassies for its survey, 880 construction workers died in the UAE in 2004. The magazine stressed that not all deaths were the direct result of accidents.

In fact, the number of accidental deaths was calculated to be the minority. Many workers died as a result of diseases such as tuberculosis, a common condition among migrant building workers who often live in poor conditions.

Dozens of others died from other natural causes. “It is difficult to compare like-for-like figures from the UAE and other countries, because there are no accurate figures for the number of labourers working in this country,” Sean Cronin, editor of Construction Week, told 7DAYS.

“There were 70 deaths in the construction industry in the UK last year, out of a workforce of 600,000. There are more than that working in the UAE, but figures are extremely difficult to get hold of. We are still trying to get information relating to the collapse at the airport last year.

“There is an awareness among contractors that things have to change,” added Cronin. “There are good contractors out there.” Authorities reported five deaths among construction workers when piling being used on the extension to Dubai airport collapsed last year.

Alan Ritchie, a leading UK-based union health and safety campaigner, and who recently visited Dubai building sites, called for a central register of casualties to be established.

A senior official at the UAE Ministry of Labour said no central record of deaths was kept. “I have not heard these figures” he said last night.

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

The Big Question

Tuesday, 30 August 2005 (7 Days)

How many years will you get out of a UAE freehold or leasehold property, asks Matthew Brown?

There are a lot of factors to take into account when trying to put a number on the potential longevity of a building. What materials have been used? What design was used?

What standards did the contractor adhere to? What are the environmental conditions? All of the above vary from building to building in the UAE, apart from the last one.

The environment in the UAE is highly aggressive, and unless measures are taken to keep it at bay, your villa is likely to start encountering serious problems within 30 years, according to the experts interviewed by 7DAYS.

“A badly-constructed villa will deteriorate after 15 years,” says Brian Hillesdon, an asset integrity specialist at GHD, the durability consultants for Emaar’s Burj Dubai project. “A good one will last 30 years.”

“Chloride (salt) ingress is the biggest threat to buildings out here. UAE groundwater is shallow and saline. Older buildings that did not take this into account have deteriorated fast.”

Buildings in the UAE are attacked on two fronts. Most are constructed of concrete with steel reinforcements. Salt tends to seep into the walls of buildings through the ground in solution, attacking both the concrete and the steel.

Unless this is protected against, it will lead to cracks in the walls, or worse. Developers are aware of the dangers of high saline content in both sand and ground water in the UAE, so the standard of building is on the rise over all.

However there are still a considerable number of poor quality buildings being erected in the UAE, according to those whose job it is to fix them.

“We have seen problems with concrete in buildings as young as three years old,” said the managing director of a locally-based company whose job it is to provide solutions to these kinds of issues.

“I would expect villas that are being built at the moment to experience minor problems within 20 years,” he said. “They should last 30 to 40 years before there are major problems.”

Knowing when you have a major problem, and when you have a superficial problem is an important distinction, says Andy Dean, manager of cladding technology at Al Futtaim Bodycoat.

“As soon as you energise a building, the components dry out, and may shrink. That may cause superficial cracks. You will get that, and you have to put up with it; it’s not necessarily subsidence.”

However, Dean is not taking any chances himself. “I have bought a place and I’m very happy. But I’ve written the costs off over ten years. If I get 20 years out of my villa, I’ll be doing very well. We’re not talking about Victorian houses here.”

And comparisons with the UK, or other markets are unfair, he says. “The atmosphere in the UK is not as aggressive. There isn’t as much salt.” So how do you know if the building you are considering buying is a good one or a bad one?

There are a number of ways of improving the durability of a building, according to GHD’s Hillesdon, but only some of them are relevant to residential property, namely “good quality concrete mix design and placement, and appropriate coatings.”

Seals to stop water from seeping up through the walls are also important. It may well be worth asking your developer what specifications they are using in the building you are looking to buy.

7DAYS asked three of the major developers about building longevity and only one of them, Emaar, responded.

Both Nakheel and Damac were unable to comment, while Emaar said that “advances in building and constructing technologies have spurred dramatic changes in the design, construction, and function of buildings.

Emaar employs these technologies to ensure the longevity of its lifestyle communities and make its homes last long.” The major developers are assumed to be setting the standard in building quality and durability in this region.

In fact, GHD’s Hillesdon goes as far as to say that: “The well-known developers have a positive attitude to durability issues.” But only time will prove him right or wrong.

“Some quite recent buildings in Dubai already have cracks in them,” points one anonymous contractor. “This is because large amounts of water is used to irrigate the surrounding flower beds and lawns.

The salt in the ground turns soluble in the water, which is then sucked up into the concrete.” “Problems like this can be fixed after the building is built, but the longer you leave it, the more it will cost to fix.”

Residents of both the Greens, built by Emaar, and Knowledge Village, built by Dubai Properties, have complained to 7DAYS about both internal and external cracks. However, it is not clear how severe the problem is in either case.

Nakheel’s first project, behind The Gardens on Sheikh Zayed Road, is on hold following some major structural issues and subsidence, and only now is it beginning to release properties from its first development, Jumeirah Islands.

Nakheel is behind arguably the most famous projects in Dubai, and also the most exposed to the elements, The Palms.

“Buildings in the marine environment are exposed to airborne chlorides as well as saline ground water, so in addition to the foundations, the above ground structure is also susceptible to corrosion, and requires careful choice of materials to ensure longevity,” said GHD’s Hillsedon.

Unfortunately Nakheel was unable to give any details of the project. The key to increasing the life of any property, however, is maintenance.

“There is no reason why new buildings in Dubai should not last for 100 years as long as they are maintained regularly,” says Dieter Schanzer, managing director of Lloyd Wright, a Chartered Valuation Surveyor, operating in Dubai.

“The economic lifespan of a building - how long you can continue to raise finance on it - is nearer to 60 years. So you might find it difficult to sell after 60 years.

Properties that I've seen in Dubai have been built pretty well in general bearing in mind the inexperience of some of the workforce.”

Return to Construction Issues (News Index)

End

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Construction Issues

2005-07-18T22:53:00.000+04:00

Quality Assurances

What are the construction standards in the UAE and particulalry with regard to new properties being marketed in Dubai? How will buildings withstand the harsh climatic conditions?

These are extremely important questions, but not easily answered. One way to measure quality standards in constructon is to look at how structures already built in the UAE have withstood the test of time. By this measure one might see a lot of red flags. Larger buildings only 15 to 20 years old often appear much older and many are set to be demolished by such time. But this does not necessarily reflect on current standards. Buildings constructed in the past targeted a much different market--it was for local and inexpereinced entrepreneurs looking to generate income from rental returns. 15 to 20 years of rental returns should have been enough to cover the initial outlay for such inverstors and provide a respectible profit. Buildings appeared to be cast from the same mold, suggesting a sort of assembly line construction process. This wouldn't necessarily indicate that construction standards were poor, but it does suggest a lack of innovation and interest in the instrinsic value of the property.

Today's real estate environment, especially in Dubai, is dramatically different. It is geared toward internaitonal investors and set to compete with world-class properties. A much more sophisticated market is being targeted and innovation and uniqueness are very much names of the game. This again does not necesarily indicate better construction standards, but it suggests builders and developers are focused to some extent on making a statement with their properties, and not simply in it for a quick return on investment. The record of past construction, therefore, can hardly be an accurate guage of present construction standards.

That being said, there still remain many unanswered questions? There exists a situation where few reliable track records are available to evaluate the credibility of a buildier. It requires one to be technically well-versed enough to look at raw construction data and from that make judgements as to what standards are being met. Is the general media pursuing this? Are regional trade publications investigating such concerns? These would be two places to look to find answers.

One article of late 2004 published at AME Info only briefly highlights a matter of concern:

Construction Standards Warning

United Arab Emirates: Tuesday, November 23 - 2004 at 09:07

UAE construction firms are using substandard quality concrete with a reduced service life, a building design expert has warned. Dr Abdul-Rahim Sabouni, President of the UAE Chapter of the American Concrete Association, says the Middle East construction sector needs to take a more professional approach, with better codes of practice and quality control.

This very brief media piece raises exactly the type of questions that are needed to evaluate the current level of contruction standards. Such an article alone, however, is very anecdotal and does little to clarify either the general state of affairs or the conditions at any particular development, as none are named. It does offer a stepping stone, however, toward getting answers to the important questions of standards by identifying the UAE Chapter of the American Concrete Association as perhaps one watchdog in the industry. There are clearly questions to be raised about construction standards and there are answers albeit ones that need to be ferreted out.

See also Construction Issues (News Index).

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Maintenance and Service Fees (Sinking Funds)

2005-07-08T11:07:00.000+04:00

Among charges or fees associated with property maintenance, a sinking fund ought to be considered to address one-off expenses. The following article puts a spotlight on this issue.

Maintenance Charges Heading for a Showdown?

Developers overlooking the importance of sinking fund to protect investors.

Freehold investors may face serious maintenance fee repercussions in some local developments within the next few years caused by inadequate research and total lack of contractual agreements. The most alarming is the complete overlooking of a sinking fund by most developers.

In more cases than is good for the market, developers are just putting together fixed rates as their maintenance and service charges, with the lower rates used as bait for investors. Blanket rates ranging from Dh6 to Dh15 per square foot are quoted without any specifications on ho the money will be spent, let alone including a sinking fund.

"in the US and UK and in most mature real estate markets, a sinking fund takes in between 20 to 25 per cent of the collected annual charges, which is not necessarily the case in Dubai," says Dilip Khatwani, Chief Executive of Dubai-based Reliance Facilities Management.

"Ideally, sinking funds are raised from the owners of the property to take care of depreciation and replace equipment when necessary. In most markets, these are covered by owner contributions from the maintenance charges. Freehold owners in Dubai could find that no provision has been made for replacing key equipment within their properties. Instead they might be faced with one-off charges that they might have to bear in full or part."

In many of the new freehold contracts, there is also no provision for breakdown insurance, which is a given in most overseas markets. For instance, given the high usage of chillers in this part of the world, which could raise the frequency of breakdowns, this might prove a potential flash-point between the owner and developer on who should pay to set it right.

"Energy calculations are very critical in putting together the maintenance charges. The developer has to put in play the diversity factors--what might be the standard in one market need not be the basis here. What is happening in Dubai is both buyers and sellers look at how low the quoted rates are instead of looking a various expenses which should be covered in the service charges. though things are changing slowly, developers are not taking into consideration facility management requirements at the design stage," says Khatwani.

That is amply borne by the fact that very few developments, even top-notch commercial destination, had back-up generators during the recent power breakdown in Dubai. the issue of the optimum maintenance charge does not end with the developer. In the local market, there is some resistance among maintenance charges higher than Dh6 to Dh8 a square foot on a yearly basis. A case in point was the resistance to Emaar's recent attempt to raise their tariffs to Dh15 a square foot.

"Being transparent about the various expenses that the tariffs will be used for could be a good way to start. If the developer pursues it with entities such as an owners' association, a common ground can be found for all," says Katwani.

Source: Manoj Nair, Property Weekly, 29 June 2005.

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Commonhold: A Primer

2005-06-28T09:33:00.000+04:00

BD (Website Manager)

The concept of freehold is new in the UAE and purchasers of property, especially expatriates, may understandably feel ill at ease about the whole issue of buying property. There is, however, a pent-up desire among residents to own as opposed to rent and many of the new developments are so tantalizing that both residents and non-residents feel drawn to enter the market. The fact is that the developments committed to thus far are of such a scope and scale that to rule unfavorably in regard to freehold ownership by expatriates or non-residents is almost inconceivable.

Alongside the question of freehold, however, is the equally unfamiliar concept of commonhold. It is interesting to note that it is not only new to the UAE but has only been in practice in the UK since 2004. In deed, commonhold in the UAE is modeled on the British formulation and the concept itself is rather easy to understand:

The common use areas of a complex such as an apartment tower are owned and managed in common (collectively) by the owners of the complex’s individual units. Although they may need to task someone else with the actual management and maintenance of the property, the group of owners are in effect the landlord, with full powers of decision and delegation in regard to all common use areas

Although an inherently simple concept, it requires that the group of owners act as a collective, and this is where a bit of complexity enters in. Individual owners, perhaps, will not have equal say in management and control decisions. Rather an individual’s voice may be weighted by the percentage of property units he holds. Therefore, owners of larger units or multiple units may have more say than single and especially smaller unit holders. In fact, a single entity like a company may own several floors of units or even a majority stake in the tower. How would its leverage as a majority owner compare then with that of an individual who owns but a single unit? In whatever scenario, there will need to be sufficient communication and cooperation among owners so that the owners may effectively function as a group with a single voice. Whether decisions will be made on the basis of simple majority or other formulae will need to be determined.

Simple but not Sweet

A simple concept then, but rather complex upon implementaton. It represents a favorable option from the perspective of the apartment owner, which puts control of the entire property into the hands of the unit holders as opposed to a perhaps disinterested landlord or one who is motivated by self-intersts alone. The challenge will be for the new owners and owner-residents in Dubai’s multitude of developments to work together as a community to effectively implement a successful model of commonhold. Again, to do so may be complicated by the fact that some owners will be non-residents who are at times unavailable when crucial decisions need to be made. Alternatively, a larger entity like a company may hold a sufficient number of units to effectively silence the voice of single-unit owners. Potentially even worse are scenarios where units have been purchased solely as instruments of speculative investment. The owner in this case may have no interest in the long-term value of the property nor in the day-to-day concerns of residents and resident owners.

Whatever the case, commonhold presents both a challenge and opportunity for Dubai’s new property owners. On the one hand it empowers them, to greater or lesser extent, to better control the condition and quality of their surroundings. On the other hand it begs of them to take a more active role in the building community to which they belong.

See also What is Commonhold?

Go to MAG 218 Community homepage or About the Community.

Legal Docs: Constitution of the MAG 218 Tower Association

2005-06-27T22:51:00.000+04:00

The following is a copy of the Rules of the Association document prepared by Emaar for its Dubai Marina properties. The Constitution of the MAG 218 Tower Association document prepared for the MAG 218 Tower is nearly identical.

Whereas:

The Project is a commonhold development project, the developer of the project and wishes to establish the Association to which all new Owners will become members.

In these Rules :

Association means the association formed under these rules to manage and administer those aspects of the Project and the Commonhold Property that require agreement and cooperation of the Owners as a group
Commonhold Property means that part of the land and Project that does not form part of any unit of the Project and is capable of and intended for the use, enjoyment and utility of all units
Developer means [ ], the developer of the Project
Manager means the manager of the Association appointed by the Association from time to time
Management Agreement means that form of agreement to be entered into between the Developer and the Association whereby the Developer will serve as the first Manager and which agreement was disclosed to each Owner as an attachment to the offer made to acquire his interest in the Unit
Owner means an owner of a freehold interest in a Unit. The initial Owner of all Units is the Developer
Project means the land, residential buildings, parking structures and amenities buildings known as [ ]
Unit means an individual numbered unit designated as such on the plan for the Project registered at the Dubai Land Department and includes the Commonhold Property and the parking space(s) attaching to that Unit as shown on the said plan.

1. MEMBERSHIP IN THE ASSOCIATION AND TERM

1.1 Each Owner shall become a member of the Association upon the registration of his interest in the Unit at the Dubai Land Department

1.2 No person other than an Owner may become a member of the Association.

1.3 In the case of joint Owners the first named party on the title deed shall be considered for the purposes of these Rules to be the Owner.

1.4 No Owner may resign or otherwise relinquish his membership in the Association.

1.5 The Association shall come into existence when the first Unit in the Project is sold and the plan of the project is registered at the Dubai Land Department and shall continue in existence for an unlimited period.

2. OFFICE OF THE ASSOCIATION

2.1 The Association shall have its main office in the Project and shall provide the Manager office space in the Project without charge from which to administer the affairs of the Association.

3. POWERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

3.1 The Association has the power to :

(a) enter into binding agreements through its Manager

(b) fix an annual fee to be levied against each Unit for the operating, upkeep, repair and maintenance of the Project and the fee levied against each Unit must equal the percentage that the Commonhold Property attached to that Unit, as shown on the plan for the Project registered at the Dubai Land Department, is to the total annual fee

(c ) fix an annual fee to be levied against each Unit for replacement or repair of Commonhold Property where it is expected that such replacement or repair will be necessary in the future and would under generally accepted accounting practice be considered a capital expenditure provided that the fee levied against each Unit must equal the percentage that the Commonhold Property attached to that Unit, as shown on the plan for the Project registered at the Dubai Land Department, is to the total annual fee

(d) make rules to govern its members and deal with all matters of membership

(e) determine the terms of payment of all fees with respect to the Project and charge interest on payments in arrears

(f) appoint a Manager of the Association to manage the day to day affairs of the Association or enter into management agreements with companies for this purpose

(g) appoint the auditor for the Association

(h) take proceedings in the name of the Association in the Courts of Dubai against any Owner that is in default in payments due the Association or is otherwise in breach of these Rules or any regulations made pursuant thereto and seek remedies to enforce payment or remedy the breach including but not limited to the forced sale of the Owner’s Unit

3.2 The Association may delegate any or all of its powers as it may from time to time see fit

4. DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATION

4.1 The Association has the duty to:

(a) appoint a Manager to manage the Project and administer its day to day affairs

(b) maintain and manage the Commonhold Property for the general benefit of all Owners

(c) ensure that each Owner will enjoy peaceful possession and quiet enjoyment of his Unit and the Commonhold Property in accordance with these Rules and the regulations made pursuant to these Rules

(d) enforce the Rules and regulations of the Association

(e) insure the Project, all Units (but not the contents of any Unit) and the Commonhold Property against all customary risks to the replacement value of the Project naming the Association as the main beneficiary of the insurance proceeds

(f) register the plan, the lot and the building comprising the Project at the Dubai Land Department as a Commonhold project

(g) file the Rules and all amendments thereto and all minutes of Association meetings at the Dubai Land Department

5. ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

5.1 The Manager shall once a year, not later than ninety days (90), following the receipt of the auditor’s report on the Association’s accounts, convene a meeting of all Owners for the purpose of:

(a) appointing or reappointing a Manager if there is no Management Agreement then enforce

(b) receiving for approval the accounts of the Association

(c ) receiving a report from the Manager on the previous year’s operations

(d) appointing auditors for the Association

(e) such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting

5.2 Each Owner shall be given 15 days written notice of the meeting by post to the address for mailing given to the Association by the Owner

5.3 The notice shall state the place, date and time of the meeting and the nature of any special business to be brought before the meeting and be accompanied by the audited accounts for the preceding fiscal year if this is a meeting to consider the accounts

5.4 A quorum for a meeting shall be two Owners or individuals representing an Owner by proxy, and a representative of the Manager must be in attendance. If no quorum is present within 30 minutes of the time for the meeting to begin the meeting shall stand adjourned to the day following at the same time and place and the meeting shall proceed with the Owners or their proxies and the Manager’s representative then present

5.5 The Manager shall set the rules for the meeting as are required subject to the requirement that all matters must be decided by a majority vote of the Owners present at the meeting unless otherwise stated in these Rules

5.5 On all votes at a meeting each Owner shall have that number of votes that corresponds to the percentage interest that Owner has in the Commonhold Property.

6. DUTIES OF OWNERS

6.1 Each Owner shall :

(a) permit the Manager, at all reasonable times and on reasonable notice (except in cases of emergency) to enter into his Unit for the purpose inspecting, maintaining and repairing the Commonhold Property

(b) pay the Association all fees, rates, taxes and premiums that may become payable in respect of his Unit

(c) maintain his Unit in a state of good repair

(d) notify the Association immediately if there is a change of Owner with respect of his Unit

(e) ensure that all occupants of his Unit comply with the Rules and regulations

(f) at all times comply with the laws, decrees rules and regulations of the Emirate of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates from time to time enforce that relate to the Project or his Unit and procure that all occupants of his Unit also comply

(g) comply with all notices and instructions from the Manager with respect to the use and occupation of the Unit and the Project

7. RESTRICTIONS ON OWNERS

7.1 No Owner shall:

(a) make structural, mechanical or electrical alterations to his Unit or to the Commonhold Property without the prior written consent of the Manager

(b) expose laundry to the public view by hanging it on balconies, out windows or by any other means

(c ) allow in his Unit any animal, reptile or bird that is not customarily reared inside a building and considered generally as a house pet and all pets must be carried or on a leash when outside any Unit

(d) permit explosives, hazardous chemicals or firearms to be stored in any Unit, in any part of the Project, in its annexes or beside the Project

(e) store any of his personal property in any of the Commonhold Property

(f) erect any sign or billboard on any part of the Commonhold Property including the entrance to his Unit

(g) park vehicles in other than designated parking spaces that has been assigned to his Unit

(h) allow his Unit to fall into disrepair, become infected with insects or in any way become a health hazard to the Project

(i) create a nuisance

(j) use the Commonhold Property for any personal use such as dusting carpets, cleaning furniture or displaying plants and flowers

(k) use or permit the use of the parking structure for any purpose other than parking vehicles

(l) make any change (including a color change) to the external appearance of the Project or its doors and windows

8. RIGHTS OF OWNERS

8.1 The Owners may convene a meeting of all Owners at any time by lodging with the Manager a request for a meeting stating the business for the meeting, which may include a proposal to terminate the Manager, subject to the terms of any Management Agreement then in force, which request shall be accompanied by a signed petition of the Owners representing twenty five (25%) percent of all Units.

8.2 Any Owner has the right to require that the Manager enforce the Rules and regulations.

Go to MAG 218 Community's most recent posts, or view the complete listing (by title) of all MAG 218 and Dubai Marina Communities' posts.

Legal Docs: Terms and Conditions

2005-06-27T22:27:00.000+04:00

The following is a copy of the Unit Terms and Conditions of Sale document prepared by Emaar for its Dubai Marina properties. The Terms & Condtions document prepared for the MAG 218 Tower is nearly identical.

1. DECLARATION OF THE VENDOR

The Vendor declares that it is the sole owner of the Unit free from encumbrances and the Purchase Price set out in the particulars of Sale and Purchase is the true price of the Unit.

2. PAYMENT

The Purchaser will pay each instalment payment as described in the Schedule of Instalment Payments by mailing the same to the Vendor at P O Box 9440 Dubai, UAE or delivering the payment to the Vendor’s office in Dubai, UAE on/or before the due date of the payment.

3. POSSESSION AND RISK

3.1 Provided the Purchaser is not in default under this Agreement the Vendor shall provide vacant possession of the Unit to the Purchaser on the Completion Date at which date all risk associated with the Unit shall pass to the Purchaser.

3.2 The Vendor shall within 12 months prior to the Estimated Completion Date advise the Purchaser of the designated completion date for completion of construction and handover of the Unit (the “Completion Date”). The Vendor may at its option on notice to the Purchaser given prior to one (1) month before the Completion Date extend the Completion Date to such dates as advised by the Vendor from time to time provided that the total period of such extensions (if any) shall not in any event exceed twelve (12) months. The Vendor shall give notice to the Purchaser no later than thirty (30) days prior to the Completion Date of the date of handover of the Property.

4. TRANSFER OF TITLE TO THE PURCHASER

On the Completion Date, the Vendor shall give a clear and unencumbered freehold right of the Unit to the Purchaser provided that the Purchaser pay all fees payable by the Purchaser in connection with the transfer.

5. COVENANTS AND WARRANTIES OF THE VENDOR

5.1 The Vendor covenants to carry out construction of the Project in compliance with all building codes, rules, regulations and laws in force in the Emirate of Dubai and the UAE and that all materials and equipment will be new and, subject to the terms of this Agreement, in conformity with the plans and specifications shown to the Purchaser when signing this Agreement.

5.2 The Unit is subject to a builder’s defects liability warranty in respect of any defective material, fittings and fixtures including mechanical, plumbing and electrical works for a period of 12 months from the date of completion of the construction thereof.

5.3 The Vendor hereby assigns to the Purchaser all benefits the Vendor holds in any warranties from the manufacturer of all appliances fittings or fixtures that are installed in the Unit.

5.4 The Vendor shall remain liable for a period of ten (10) years from the date of completion of the construction of the Project to repair and rectify any structural defects in the Project.

5.5 The Vendor shall deliver the Unit to the Purchaser in a professionally finished condition, clean and ready for occupancy and constructed, subject to the terms of this Agreement, in accordance with the plans and specifications shown to the Purchaser when signing this Agreement.

5.6 The Vendor shall construct the infrastructure surrounding the Project including roads, lighting, walkways, and landscaping substantively in accordance with the Vendor’s overall development plan for infrastructure.

5.7 The Vendor will procure that the Project and the Commonhold Property will be managed in a professional manner and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Management Agreement.

5.8 The Vendor will allocate the parking space(s) and a Commonhold unit factor with respect to the Unit on the Completion Date.

6. COVENANTS AND WARRANTIES OF THE PURCHASER

6.1 Purchaser represents that the Unit is being purchased on Purchaser’s own behalf and the Unit will be beneficially owned by the Purchaser.

6.2 The Purchaser agrees that the Unit will be used for single family residential purposes only.

6.3 The Purchaser shall:

(a) permit the Vendor and its employees or agents at all reasonable times to enter the Unit to inspect and examine its condition

(b) not use the Premises for any illegal or immoral act or purpose

(c) pay all charges (including connection charges to the Unit) for water, electricity, sewage and other services provided to the Unit, in addition to all property taxes, Maintenance Fees, Dubai Municipality fees and other similar levies that may be imposed or levied with respect to the Unit; and

(d) comply in all respects with the provisions of all laws, decrees, regulations and the Rules for the time being in force and the requirements of any competent authority in relation to the Unit or anything done in the Unit.

6.4 The Purchaser shall not modify, add or delete any part of the exterior of the unit (including satellite dishes or antenae) or construct any additional improvements in the Unit without the prior consent of the Vendor.

6.5 The Purchaser acknowledges that he has not acted or relied upon any representations made by or on behalf of the Vendor except those contained in this Agreement.

7. UNIT INSPECTION

The Purchaser will be entitled to inspect the Unit accompanied by a representative of the Vendor at a reasonable time by arrangement with the Vendor prior to the Completion Date. At such time, the parties will prepare and sign a conclusive list of any defects and deficiencies (the “Deficiencies”) and will agree the date by which the Deficiencies shall be rectified. The Vendor will promptly remedy the Deficiencies by the stated date for rectification of Deficiencies provided that the Purchaser shall not be entitled to hold back any portion of the Purchase Price in respect of the Deficiencies. In the event of any dispute, a decision by the Vendor’s architect will be final and binding on the parties. In all other respects the Purchaser will be deemed to have accepted the physical condition of the Unit. The Purchaser acknowledges that except for this one inspection, the Purchaser shall not be allowed access the Unit or the Project prior to the Completion Date, without the prior written authorization of the Vendor.

8. ASSOCIATION RULES

The Purchaser acknowledges that the Rules contain certain restrictions on the use of the Unit and Commonhold Property which restrictions are essential to the successful operation of the Project. The Purchaser agrees to comply with the Rules and agrees to procure the compliance of all other occupants of his Unit and acknowledges that under the Rules each unit in the Project will be assessed a fee to pay the operating, external maintenance, capital reserve and other costs associated with the Project, the Commonhold Property and associated facilities. The Purchaser agrees to pay all the fees assessed under the Rules and further agrees that the Association is empowered (which power may be delegated) to take whatever action it deems necessary to enforce payment of fees in default, including legal proceedings. The Purchaser further agrees that the Association shall have a lien on the Unit for any unpaid fees and the Purchaser agrees the Association may take proceedings directly against the Unit to enforce collection of unpaid fees in addition to proceedings against the Purchaser directly. The Purchaser agrees to the powers of the Association and the delegation of the Association’s powers to the Vendor pursuant to the Management Agreement and agrees to the enforcement of the Rules by the Vendor during the term of the Management Agreement.

9. SALE AND ASSIGNMENT

9.1 The Purchaser acknowledges that any sale, assignment or other disposition (other than by way of mortgage) of an interest in the Unit must have the consent of the Vendor, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. Where the Purchaser is other than a natural person, any change in the legal or beneficial ownership or control of that entity shall constitute a disposition of an interest in the Property. The Vendor may in its sole and absolute discretion entertain any application for consent to sell, assign or dispose of an interest in the Unit prior to the Completion Date or if any payments due to the Vendor or the Association are in arrears.

9.2 No sale, assignment or other disposition (other than by way of mortgage) of an interest in the Unit will be of any legal effect until the party intending to acquire the interest has entered into an agreement acknowledging that such party will pay the fees referred to in clause 8, be bound by the Rules and acknowledge the Association’s power to enforce the Rules.

10. MODIFICATIONS

10.1 The Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that the Vendor may from time to time, in its discretion or as required by any competent authority, change, vary or modify the plans, colours, materials, finishes, equipment, fixtures and specifications pertaining to the Project and the Unit (including architectural, structural, landscaping, grading, mechanical or other plans) from the plans, colours, materials, finishes, equipment, fixtures and specifications existing at the time the Purchaser entered into this Agreement or as same may be illustrated in any sales brochures, models or otherwise, all without notice to or consent from the Purchaser, provided that the substituted items are of equal or better quality. The Purchaser hereby consents to any such changes, modifications and / or substitutions and agrees to complete this transaction notwithstanding modifications in accordance with the foregoing.

10.2 The Purchaser acknowledges that the area of the Unit, as represented to the Purchaser by the Vendor’s sales representative or by the Vendor’s brochures, drawings, plans, advertisements or other marketing materials, is approximate only and the Purchaser acknowledges that the actual suite floor area of the Unit may vary from the stated area. The suite area is measured as the area bounded by the center lines of demising of party walls separating one unit from another unit, the exterior surface of the exterior walls, and the exterior surface of the corridor wall enclosing and abutting the unit. The Balcony area is measured as the area bounded by the inner face of a demising or party walls separating one unit from another unit, the outermost face of the enclosing guard and the external face of the suite abutting the balcony. If the total of the actual area is less than the represented area by more than three (3) percent the Purchase Price will be reduced proportionally. No adjustment will be made to the Purchase Price if the actual area is increased or is reduced by less than three (3) percent.

11. DEFAULT BY THE VENDOR

If the Purchaser has fulfilled all of the Purchaser’s obligations of payment under this Agreement and the Vendor is unable to deliver possession of the Unit on the Completion Date (as extended if applicable), the Purchaser may give the Vendor, within thirty (30) days following the Completion Date, , a notice of termination of this Agreement. If the Vendor is not in a position to give the Purchaser vacant possession of the Unit within ninety (90) days of receipt of such notice the Vendor shall refund all payments made by the Purchaser with interest at the Interest Rate calculated from the date each payment was made and this Agreement shall be terminated. If the Vendor remedies its default within the said ninety (90) day period the date of the remedy will become the Completion Date and this Agreement will remain in full force and effect and thus the Purchaser will remain obligated to make all outstanding payments.

12. DEFAULT BY THE PURCHASER

The Purchaser shall pay interest at the rate of one percent (1%) per month on all instalment payment and other payments due to the Vendor for each day that payments are in default. In the event that this default is not cured within thirty (30) days from the due date, the Vendor shall have the right, at its option, on fourteen (14) days written notice to the Purchaser, to terminate this Agreement and if the payment default has not been remedied within the said fourteen (14) days notice period, this Agreement shall automatically terminate and in such event all payments previously made by the Purchaser (the “Agreed Amount”), shall be absolutely forfeited to the Vendor as liquidated damages. The parties hereby agree that the Agreed Amount constitutes a genuine and reasonable pre-estimate of the damages that will be suffered by the Vendor as a result of such default by the Purchaser. The Purchaser hereby acknowledges and agrees that the forfeiture of the Agreed Amount in the foregoing circumstances is fair and equitable, is not harsh or unconscionable and does not constitute a penalty.

13. VENDOR’S VISA SPONSORSHIP

13.1 The Vendor agrees to sponsor the first-named owner of the Unit and subsequent first-named transferees for a Visa (and renewals thereof) (provided the owner/transferee is not otherwise entitled to sponsorship for a Visa) on payment of the Vendor’s applicable visa administration fee. If there are joint owners/transferees then sponsorship will only be offered if none of the joint owners/transferees are otherwise entitled to sponsorship for a Visa. Upon a disposition of his interest in the Unit (other than by way of mortgage) the Vendor will terminate the sponsorship of the owner/transferee and cancel the Visa.

13.2 The Purchaser acknowledges that he will have to comply with all laws and regulations in force in the UAE with respect to Visa sponsorship.

13.3 The Purchaser agrees to indemnify the Vendor against all costs and liabilities incurred or suffered by the Vendor as a result of the Vendor’s sponsorship and the Purchaser hereby grants a first fixed charge over the Unit to secure to the Vendor any such costs and liabilities.

14. FORCE MAJEURE

“Event of Force Majeure” means an act of God including but not limited to fire, flood, earthquake, windstorm or other natural disaster; act of any sovereign including but not limited to war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, nationalisation, requisition, destruction or damage to property by or under the order of any government or public or local authority or imposition of government sanction embargo or similar action; labour dispute including but not limited to strike, lockout or boycott; interruption or failure of utility service including but not limited to electric power, gas, water or telephone service; failure of the transportation of any personnel, equipment, machinery or material required by the Vendor for completion of the Project; breach of contract by any essential contractor or subcontractor or any other matter or cause beyond the control of the Vendor. Should an event of Force Majeure occur that will delay the Completion Date, the Vendor shall promptly notify the Purchaser of the event and give the Purchaser a new Completion Date or an estimate of the duration of the delay, followed by a new Completion Date when same can be determined. The Purchaser’s payment obligations shall cease until the event of Force Majeure has been remedied after which time the payment obligations will resume taking into account the Force Majeure delay. Should an event of Force Majeure delay the Completion Date by a period of one (1) year the Purchaser may elect to terminate this Agreement by notice to the Vendor and the Vendor shall refund all monies paid by the Purchaser.

15. SURVIVAL OF AGREEMENT

The Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that this Agreement will survive the Completion Date and the transfer of freehold title to the Unit to the Purchaser and will remain binding upon the parties until the Purchaser has effectively sold or assigned the Purchaser’s interest in the Unit to a third party and that third party has entered into an agreement to comply with the Purchaser’s obligations herein.

16. TIME OF THE ESSENCE

Time will be of the essence of this Agreement and will remain of the essence notwithstanding the extension of any of the dates herein.

17. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

17.1 This Agreement and Schedules A through E, which schedules are incorporated into this Agreement by reference, constitute the entire agreement between the parties and there are no other representations, warranties, conditions or collateral agreements, express or implied, written or oral, whether made by the Vendor, any agent, employee or representative of the Vendor or any other person including, without limitation, arising out of any marketing material including sales brochures, models, representative view sets, show room displays, photographs, videos, illustrations, renderings, revenue projections or pro-forma statements provided to the Purchaser or made available for his viewing, and upon acceptance by the Vendor, this Agreement shall form a binding agreement subject only to the terms and conditions contained herein.

17.2 The Purchaser acknowledges that the Management Agreement will be entered into by the Association and the Vendor as soon as practicable and the Purchaser further acknowledges that it has read the terms and conditions of the Management Agreement and the Rules and is in agreement with the contents of both documents and agrees to be bound by them as from the date hereof.

18. INTERPRETATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. All disputes, other than disputes pursuant to clause 7, between the parties in relation to or arising from this Agreement shall be referred to arbitration in Dubai to be conducted in accordance with the rules of Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in place at the time by one arbitrator appointed in accordance with the said rules whose decision shall be final and binding.

19. NOTICES

Without prejudice to the right to serve notice by any other means, any notice required to be served under this Agreement shall be in writing in the English language and shall be deemed sufficiently served ten (10) days after it has been mailed by registered pre-paid post to the address of the party to be served that is set out at the head of this Agreement or to such other address of which notice has been previously given.

20. ENUREMENT

The Agreement shall enure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective personal representatives, heirs, successors, and permitted assigns.

21. JOINT LIABILITY

If there is more than one purchaser named in this Agreement, all Purchaser obligations shall be joint and several.

22. COUNTERPART EXECUTION

This Agreement may be executed, accepted and delivered in counterparts and by telecopy, which counterparts and tele-copied documents shall together constitute one and the same Agreement.

23. DEFINITIONS

In this Agreement where the context allows the following words shall have the following meanings:

Association means the Association formed as an association of all the owners in the Project, which Association shall be governed by the Rules as described in Schedule A hereto
Building means the building identified in the Particulars of Sale and Purchase being part of the Project
Common hold Property means that part of the land and Project that does not form part of any unit of the Project and is capable of and intended for the use, enjoyment and utility of all units
Completion Date means the date set out in the Completion Notice to be delivered by the Vendor to the Purchaser in accordance with clause 3.2 hereof
Department means the UAE Ministry of Interior, Department of Naturalization and Residency and or its successor
Developer means for the within named Vendor, the developer of the Project
Estimated Completion Date means the estimated completion date set out in the particulars of Sale and Purchase
Interest Rate means the UAE Dirhams ninety (90) day Emirates Interbank Offer Rate (“EBOR”)
Manager means for the purpose of the Property Management Agreement, the Vendor described in the Particulars of Sale and Purchase
Property Management Agreement means the Property Management Agreement to be made in the form attached as Schedule B between the Manager and the Association
Maintenance Fees means the fees to be levied by the Vendor in respect of the costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the Project including the Building, the Commonhold Property, associated facilities and infrastructure
Particulars of Sale and Purchase means the Particulars of Sale and Purchase set out on page 1 of the Agreement of Sale
Project means the land, residential buildings, parking structures and amenities buildings identified as the Project in the Particulars of Sale and Purchase
Rules means the Rules of the Association attached as Schedule A; where the Developer shall be the Vendor and the Project shall be the Project both respectively as described in the Particulars of Sale and Purchase
UAE means the United Arab Emirates
Unit means the Unit described in the Particulars of Sale and Purchase set out on page one (1) hereof
Visa means a UAE residence visa issued by the Department
Visa Administration Fees mean the Vendor’s applicable visa administration fee plus all amounts payable to third parties, including the Department, for each Visa application made by the Vendor on behalf of the Purchaser.

Return to The MAG 218 Tower homepage. Go to MAG 218 Community homepage.

MAG 218 Project Description

2005-06-27T19:46:00.000+04:00

Source: Fact sheet provided by the developer.

Introduction

The site for the MAG Tower is located at a prime location in Dubai Marina District 10, plot no. 392-199-A23B.

Dubai Marina is amongst the world's largest master planned waterfront developments of its kind, built around an uninterrupted waterside promenade, parks and boat-berthing facilities.

This man made marina is strategically located on the Arabian Gulf in close proximity to leading five-star hotels, beach clubs and prestigious landmarks such as Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City. It is approximately 3.4 km long with 11 km marine frontage, spanning an area of 30 million square feet. Dubai Marina comprises 10 districts, each of which will be developed as distinct communities.

The plot area is 3427 square meters. It allows a base podium on the full area of the plot within a limit of 15 meters of height and 1393.5 square meters per floor.

The set back is to be of 10 meters on street "D" (S-E) and the American University side (N-E), 15 meters on the Ring Road (S-W) and 5 meters on the arcade side (N-W).

Since there is no height limitation, the main architectural concept design is the number of parking spaces provided (one space for every apartment of area below 148.5 square meters and two spaces for any greater than this area).

The MAG Tower is a residential building of 66 floors, of which 55 are residential floors. This report intends to define the architectural components of the tower.

The following sections will be compiled shortly:

Basement and Podium

The podium and the basement levels are accessible at ground level from both streets adjacent to the building via a two-way continuous slope (ramp).

The third basement is mainly a technical basement, with a 4m clear height and contains the transformer room and the water tank, in addition to 40 parking spaces.

The second and first basement contain only parking spaces (87 spaces each), under 2.6m clear height.

The pedestrian access at the ground floor level is at the center of the Ring Road (S-W) elevation, and two-way car access at the end of each roadside elevation. The parking finished level is 15cm higher than the sidewalk level, and the entrance lobby level is 30cm higher by regulation. The clear height over the ground floor is 3.8m with double height over the main pedestrian entrance. This floor contains 72 parking spaces.

The car park extends to the first and second floors under a clear height of 2.6m and contains 81 cars on the first and 87 cars on the second floor.

The third floor is partially uncovered since the back part (on adjacent plots) connects to the fourth floor (open air parking). It houses 89 parking spaces under a clear height of 2.6m.

The top of the podium, the fourth floor, consists of an outdoor swimming pool along with a Jacuzzi, an outdoor deck and a solarium, as well as changing facilities and a shower area to support the swimming pool. The remainder of the fourth floor houses 23 shaded car parking spaces.

Storage rooms are available on all floors of the basements and podium parking levels.
Technical Floors
Typical Floors
Elevators
Staircases
External Finishes

Conclusion

The tower is a combination of four slender towers tied together with a steel structure, showing a gradual transition from the metal cladding starting on the podium and lower floors, through the glass glazing on the upper floors, to the steel structure crowning the tower top.

See also MAG 218 Facts & Figures. Return to The MAG 218 Tower homepage. Go to MAG 218 Community homepage.

About the Community

2005-06-26T21:45:00.000+04:00

The MAG 218 Tower Association

A community association (or building association) of some form is necessary to, at the least, make decisions about the management of the common areas of the MAG 218 property. The common areas will include the parking, grounds, entrance, lobby, corridors and health and recreational facilities. At a minimal level a community association is required by decree of the ownership contract and in respect of UAE civil laws to properly manage the property once the developer has completed construction and the first unit owners have taken possession of their property.

This association will be required to enter into a management agreement with a suitable party and appoint a building manager. From time to time the association will also need to decide on rules to govern the management and use of common areas. By decree of the ownership contract only a unit owner may become a member of the association, therefore other residents, although part of the larger MAG 218 community, will not belong to the MAG 218 Tower Association. Further details regarding the powers and responsibilities of the association can be reveiwed in the Constitution of the MAG 218 Tower Association included in the ownership contract.

The MAG 218 (Online) Community

The present online community is in effect separate and disticnt from the MAG 218 Tower Association, which is unlike this community a legal entity. There will be some overlap in membership, however the online community will by its very nature involve more open participation not limited to unit owners. Although not having a formal membership, the online community may be thought of as an association with respect to organizing activities or events whether online or in the real world. The online community will, however, function primarily as a forum for discussion and exchange of information. By contrast the MAG 218 Tower Association will function primarily to carry out or oversee the management of the common-hold elements of the property.

The Acivities of the MAG 218 (Online) Community

The following is a list of activities and ideas that participants in the online community may choose to undertake:

Discuss topics of interest related to ownership and residency at the MAG 218 Tower.
Raise questions with the property developer, future building management, the sales consultant and other involved parties.
Share information of relevance to owners and residents of the property.
Source news articles and other information related to the MAG 218 tower and larger Dubai Marina community.
Organize community events to take place (upon completion of the tower) in the community areas and off-premises.
Offer suggestions on rules and policy to the MAG 218 Tower Association.

Ideas for Community Events

Although limited to an online format at present, the MAG 218 Community should eventually function as a living community on site at the MAG 218 Tower. At such time the organization of community events should become one of its primary functions.

The following are ideas for in-house activities:

movie nights
pot lucks
country theme nights
cultural or religious holiday programs
exhibits (art, photos, collections, etc.)
language lessons (for fun)
music or book appreciation meetings
pool parties

The following are ideas for off-site activities:

barbeques
beach outings
team sports

Add other ideas by Posting Comments below.

Go to MAG 218 Community's most recent posts, or view the complete listing (by title) of all MAG 218 and Dubai Marina Communities' posts.

MAG 218 Fiction (Residents' Tales)

2005-06-26T15:57:00.000+04:00

Everyone likes a good yarn. Residents and owners are invited to submit fictional accounts of life at MAG 218 or in the Dubai Marina.

Submit your story or idea to the Website Manager.

Index of Stories
I

Imagine..., a 3-part story about moving into the MAG 218 tower. (Website Manager)

Interior Views, a visit to the new MAG 218 in 2008. (Website Manager)

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

What's in a Name?

2005-06-26T15:56:00.000+04:00

Similarly named MAG 214 is said to come from the firm's owner's personal details, ala 2 wives and 14 children . The meaning of 218 as well as 220 and similar numbers used in the names of other MAG towers is open to speculation.

The developer will be asked to explain the name MAG 218.

Update:

As noted in the write-up on the 12 November interview with the GM of MAG PDD, the number 218 is simply a continuation of the series begun with 214. Furthermore, the use of MAG is part of the companies desire to establish its name and reputation. (The GM did not, however, explain why the series begins with 214.)

Other towers are already on the drawing board with names like MAG 220, MAG 224, etc.

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Who We Are

2005-06-26T09:43:00.000+04:00

The following list is intended to provide a picture of who we are (as future residents and owners). An understanding of the international character of our community can only help to foster better interaction and understanding. The list is not meant to be comprehensive nor infringe upon anyone's privacy. It would be useful, for example, to know about the age breakdown of our community and how many are residents as opposed to non-resident owners or owner-residents, and how many reside primarily in Dubai or outside the emirate or country. For inclusion contact Website Manager.


MAG 218 Community Profile (2006)
Count	Nationality	Primary Residence	Age*	Occupation	Residence Status
001	USA	Abu Dhabi	44	teacher	owner-resident
002	UK	UK	31	agency director	owner-resident
003	India	Dubai	43	engineer	owner
004	UK	Dubai	51	company GM	owner-resident
005	UK	Dubai	47	teacher	owner-resident
006	India	Dubai	28	driver	resident
007	Italy	Italy	38	sales director	owner
008	Italy	Italy	25	restaurant owner	owner
009	India	Dubai	34	IT manager
*Age, in the year added to the list.

MAG 218 Community Profile (2007)
Count	Nationality	Primary Residence	Age*	Occupation	Residence Status

Return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Your Questions (Q&A)

2005-06-26T00:31:00.000+04:00

All answers provided by the Webmaster unless otherwise indicated.

I have bought one of these properties in MAG 218. I am worried about Asteco no longer taking an active involvement and more worried as I pay for the deposits if this development will ever happen. Is MAG PD a reliable developer to spend my hard earned money with?

The MAG developer is genuinely engaged in building in Dubai as evidenced by the documented progress being made on the MAG 214 tower in the Jumeirah Lake Towers development. It is documenting in photos the construction work at this site and the work appears to be progressing well. As the stated goal for completion of the project is mid-2008 the delay in construction work so far should not seriously impact this timetable. A large banner hanging above a freeway in Dubai advertising the MAG developer and their projects (including the MAG 218) can also be seen. That being said Asteco has a much bigger pressence in the local market than MAG. So with Asteco no longer playing a key role there may be some cause for concern but nothing that should sound any alarms.

Post a Comment here if you have any questions about the project. These may be answered by the Website Manager or passed on to others in the know.

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Imagine... (Part 3)

2005-06-24T22:20:00.000+04:00

Soon to come...stay posted.

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Imagine... (Part 2)

2005-06-24T22:18:00.000+04:00

As I stand at my window and look out over the Dubai Marina I feel some of the emotions that I felt when I first arrived at the MAG 218 Tower in April 2008...

Stay tuned... more to come.

Although 8 years have passed living in the Marina still feels like a new experience. From year to year—almost month to month—things change. The big event this year is the opening of the Jebel Ali International airport, just in time to welcome visitors to the 2016 Dubai Olympics. Dubai has been pre-occupied with this event since the city was chosen back in 2009. If people hadn’t yet heard that Dubai was on the world stage, they finally came to realize it then. At breakneck speed the city accelerated its infrastructure development. The initial rapid transit lines were finished ahead of schedule and new roads linking all the new communities seemed to open up every year. The once notorious traffic jams are now a thing of the past. Especially for residents of the Marina, there’s seldom a need to take your car when you can quickly reach your destination in a comfortable train, winding through the fantastic development projects.

Imagine... Part 3.

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Imagine... (Part 1)

2005-06-24T21:48:00.000+04:00

It's April 2008 and you've just got the keys to your new flat in the MAG 218 Tower in the Dubai Marina. The Marina itself is a fantastic sight to behold--towers of every height and design lining the streets, a busy waterway through its heart with small boats ferrying tourists and residents and lots of folks walking along the promenade.

But what really interests you at this moment is walking into the flat you've waited 3 years for. Instead of driving into the parking structure in your own car, you decide to make a grand entrance. You hire a limousine for an hour and invite some friends to join you. After taking a brief tour along the Marina Ring road, the limousine approaches the MAG 218 Tower. Standing at he corner of the block, the tower appears in full view as you approach it. You forget for a moment the anticipation of stepping into your new flat as you take in the site of the futuristic structure you will soon be calling home.

Your limousine makes its stately entrance through the drive way and under the lobby's extended portico. The black shiny exterior of the limousine perfectly accents the aluminum cladding, grey stone, marble and glass that form the exterior structures and entry way. It creates a space that is wide, cool and modern with a minimalist aesthetic. You and your friends step out of the limousine and head through the tall glass doors into the spacious lobby.

As you turn back toward the doors, you wave off the limousine driver, while bright sunlight filters in through the tinted glass to the open space of the lobby. You walk up to the doorman who stands behind the reception counter in pristine white uniform. "Welcome to the MAG 218 sir," he greets you and you respond with a hearty, "Thank you." As you walk through the lobby, you look casually from side to side at the walls then up to the ceiling and across the floor--taking in the shiny new surfaces that you'll soon take for granted. Once in the elevator corridor you hope that the doors won't open too quickly, so that you can have just a few more minutes to take in the ambience.

But the moment you press the button the bell rings and one of the elevator doors promptly opens. "Is it the one I want...I need to get up to the 55th floor." Whatever the case you step inside, locate the button for your floor and begin the final ascent. You smile and chat with your friends, who are as anxious as you are to see the new flat. You don't realize the speed of the elevator until it begins to slow down near your floor. "We're here!" one friend says cheefully, and you step out of the elevator with a bubbling sense of glee.

"...08, ...09, ... There it is!" Key in lock, a brief hesitation, then voila, ...WELCOME to the MAG 218! There's no one to say it, but the walls seem to speak it. It's a small flat, only one bedroom, but the floor to ceiling window at the far wall creates an effect of grandeur. Never mind the shiny new floor or the pristine kitchen appliances, you head straight for the "stage front" windows. From the 55th floor it is a magnificent view. The towers of the Dubai Marina loom before and below you and you stare across the now diminutive waterway that snakes through the Marina.

"This is home?" you ask yourself, although you should be making a statement of fact. It's rather hard to believe.

(Specific references to floor or room numbers are arbitrary and do not indicate actual occupancy.)

Imagine... Part 2.

Story edidted 2006-01. Go to MAG 218 Fiction (Residents' Tales) for more fictional accounts, or return to MAG 218 Community homepage.

How to Choose a Property

2005-06-22T12:24:00.000+04:00

A big question the property buyer faces is, "which property?" This is especially problematic in Dubai with so many properties coming up in so many different developments. To make matters worse, most available property is off-plan, therefore one doesn't have the opportunity to know what's availabie by simply driving around and having a look.

In this forum I hope readers will share what helped them to make their choice. A lingering question for me was how to go about the process. The artlcle linked below delves into this question and offers one solution:

Dubai Property Tours Launch

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MAG 218 Facts & Figures

2005-06-20T20:56:00.000+04:00

Location:

Dubai Marina, Dist. 10, Plot no. 392-199 (A23B).
See MAG 218 & Dubai Marina Maps for details.

Floor Breakdown:

Basement & Podium: B3-B2-B1 (technical & parking), G-1 (entrance, lobby & parking), 2-3 (parking), 4 (outdoor deck, swimming pool & parking).
Tower: 5 (technical floor), 6 to 35 (residential floors), 36 (community area & health club), 37 (technical floor), 38-62 (residential floors), 63 (technical floor & water tank).
Summary: There are 3 basement floors and 64 above ground floors (including the ground level). The basement and podium structure consists of 7 enclosed levels and the tower structure consists of 60 floors (including 55 residential, 3 technical & 2 community or recreational). Residential floors have a clearance height of 3 meters while other floors vary between 2.6 and 6.4 meters with an average clearance height of 3.7 meters each.

See also Project Description.

Return to The MAG 218 Tower homepage. Go to MAG 218 Community homepage.

Links Repository (Dubai & the UAE)

2005-06-20T17:25:00.000+04:00

Text of off-site links pasted here for retrieval when 3rd party pages go offline.

Dubai to make Jebel Ali world's largest airport

Emirates News Agency (WAM) - 22/11/2005

Dubai will have yet another superlative.

This time the world's largest airport, Jebel Ali International Airport (JXB).

To be built at a cost of Dhs30 billion, the airport could handle 120 million passengers a year, according to reports in the UAE's dailies.

That will relegate the present topper, London's Heathrow with a throughput of 83.5 million, to the second rank.

Once completed, JXB will be the combined size of Heathrow and Chicago's O'Hare. Again, it will be ten times bigger than Dubai International Airport.

The Department of Civil Aviation of the government of Dubai on Monday launched Jebel Ali Airport City (JAAC), a 140 square kilometre development. Central to the JAAC project is JXB.

Announcing the project at the ongoing Dubai air show, Dubai Civil Aviation Director for Engineering and Projects Khalifa Al Zaffin said the project is designed to serve Dubai's passenger and cargo air transportation needs until 2050 and beyond. It will have at least six parallel runways and as many concourses capable of handling more than 120 million passengers and more than 12 million tonnes of cargo per year.

The project will be completed in phases, and the first aircraft will land in the first quarter of 2007 on completion of phase one.

The project will be financed through internal resources and consortium banking.

"The project's design is being finalised and the tendering process has started for a project which has been conceived to ensure that Dubai will not be hampered by capacity constraints. It will accommodate every aircraft type yet conceived," he said. JAAC is conceived as a mixed-use urban environment, comprising aviation, logistics, commercial, residential, educational, recreational, technology and entertainment components.

At the core of JAAC, and scheduled to be the project's first component to launch operations at the end of 2007, is Dubai Logistics City (DLC), a free zone for businesses which require, or provide, logistics and multi-modal transport services to the GCC, wider Middle East, India, Africa, South East Europe and the CIS.

Grading work for the first 4.5-kilometre runway is already advanced and, when complete, it will cater for a significant portion of air cargo transported through Dubai.

The 25 square kilometre development will also feature office buildings, and will provide land plots for dedicated industrial businesses, trading companies, distributors, logistics service providers and forwarders, shared facilities, such as warehouses and modern air-side cargo handling, facilities.

DLC is aimed at boosting business opportunities and developing services and facilities for its customer base that address the needs of leading global, regional and local industrial businesses, trading companies and logistics service providers who need multi-modal transportation. These will include airlines, integrators, multi-national, regional and local forwarders, as well as third party logistics service providers. It will also target key high-end logistics users including multi-national companies within the automotive, IT, pharmaceutical, electronics and communication industries as well as relief and aid NGOs and service companies.

"Trade and industry customers can opt to build their own facilities on serviced sites with long-term leases, to work with Dubai Logistics City (DLC) who will provide a design and build facility or alternatively, companies can outsource operations to contract logistics service providers that provide both services and facilities, DLC's CEO Michael Proffitt said.

Over 1.4 million square metres of leased land in phase one has been reserved by some 35 companies who will be able to begin construction on their individual premises in Q2 2006.

Planning for an integrated road and rail transportation network to support DLC and the rest of Jebel Ali Airport City is under way. Official transportation plans include the development of a 160 kilometres network of main roads within Jebel Ali Airport City to support public traffic and a unique system dedicated to the specific needs of DLC and JXB measuring a total of 90 kilometres.

The other Jebel Ali Airport City developments include Commercial City, Aviation City, Residential City, a Golf Resort, a Science and Technology Park and Exhibition City.

The Commercial City, the financial and business heart of the project, will house up to 850 towers ranging from 50 to 300 metres in height.
A case of development choking lifestyle

12/11/2005 11:34 PM | By Ashfaq Ahmed and Kevin Dean, Staff Reporters
Dubai: Lack of basic amenities and overcrowded roads in the new developing areas of Dubai has marred the city's fast development.

The signs are all over town, advertising the next ambitious real estate project that will either place Dubai at the centre of the universe or at the top of every record book.

But thanks to poor planning, analysts said, everyone is going to feel the painful effects of such flamboyant and rapid urban development if immediate steps are not taken to cater to basic needs of people.

Grid-locked roads have been an ongoing talking point for more than two years now. But as the construction projects of recent years have come online, other more worrying aspects of this boom have surfaced, underlining the lack of proper town planning.

There are hardly any facilities such as hospitals, schools, markets and banks in the new developing areas, while the Civil Defence and police stations are far away in the central city.

For residents in communities like the Springs, Meadows and Gardens, tackling those challenges means providing adequate amenities within close range of every front door.

"Residents opting to reside in new areas have to take extra trips up and down the main city to meet even their daily needs, what to speak of emergency services," said Noushad Karim, who recently moved to the Greens, a residential area in 'New Dubai'.

Residents in such communities have criticised the respective developers lately, saying that they are forced to drive into the city's gridlocked centre to satisfy their basic needs.

"You can't build 6,000 houses and not think of emergency services," said Maryam Medina, a Springs resident.

"The lack of planning is an issue when it takes 45 minutes to reach the nearest hospital. It is just unacceptable."

"The pace of development requires a very serious look at the impact on our quality of life," said Dr Amer Moustafa, Director of the Town Planning Centre at the American University of Sharjah, a post-graduate curriculum that specialises in urban planning and analysis.

Dubai's population recorded at 1.1 million according to the last census is expected to reach four million by 2017, according to statistics.

The number of registered cars in Dubai has crossed the 700,000 mark, and this year 45,000 more vehicles are set to hit the roads.

"A city should be people-friendly, livable and affordable, easy to move through and within. So I hope that these [new real estate] projects are part of an overall scheme," Moustafa said.

Practically all of the existing and slated developments lie between Emirates Road and the coastline, with little expansion beyond.

"To what extent are these new developments factored in with the transportation plan for all of Shaikh Zayed Road?" Moustafa said.

"And to what extent is the Dubai Municipality coordinating these developments? The fact that these questions are even raised shows that the situation is critical enough."

According to Abdul Rahman Kalantar, general manager of planning, infrastructure, and utilities for all of Nakheel's projects, the major project developers and Dubai Municipality authorities hold monthly meetings with the Infrastructure and Services Committee.

The group tries to coordinate the latest developments and progress of each company with police, health, and defence officials, while making sure that everything is in line with a "master plan" to carry Dubai into the future, he said.

In a similar report, some major residential and commercial projects along the coast are expected to house more than one million people.

According to a Municipality study, the Dubailand project is expected to accommodate about 350,000 people

New cities such as Jebel Ali Airport City is expected to have a population of more than 700,000 people, and Jumeirah Beach Residence is expected to house up to 40,000 people.
Dubai Property Tours launch

Author: Property World Middle East Thursday, June 09, 2005

UAE-based property consultancy Morley Consultancy Services announced the launch of Dubai Property Tours, an independent service to help prospective buyers make informed choices as they embark on their property search in Dubai.

“We want to offer buyers a comprehensive view of the Dubai property market and empower them with the information they need to be able to purchase a property confidently and efficiently, whether they are buying it as a home or for investment purposes,” said Helen Morley, of MCS.

Dubai Property Tours may be on to something. Since freehold property was made available to expatriates three years ago, there has been a rush of new developments in Dubai, from apartments and townhouses to luxury villas.

However, real estate agents are only interested in selling what they have instructions to sell, and developers encourage the buying of their own properties. As a result, both visitors and existing UAE residents can easily get confused, and find it difficult to get objective information. “The Dubai property market can be a maze to newcomers or visitors who are bewildered by the endless choice of properties, across an increasing number of new neighbourhoods and in various stages of development,” said Helen Morley. “With new developments popping up phenomenally quickly, it can also be baffling to long-time residents”, she adds.

Because MCS is not an estate agent, Dubai Property Tours offers a unique opportunity to see all that Dubai has to offer, and obtain comprehensive information on the medium term strategic plans for the city, without any pressure to buy. Clients are taken in a private vehicle on a ‘tour’ spanning several hours and covering up to 190 kms of some of the emirate’s numerous developments, accompanied by a Dubai Property Tours consultant. However, unlike more leisurely tours, this one covers the freehold developments of interest to prospective buyers and is filled with information on property types, neighbourhoods, infrastructure and the purchase process.

“Our aim is to help potential buyers get a comprehensive overview of Dubai and its property market, “ adds Mike Morley, owner of MCS. “The city has a great deal to offer a wide variety of people, and Dubai Property Tours will give buyers a valuable starting point whether they’re looking for a home, holiday flat, retirement villa or investment property.”

Morley has lived in Dubai for the past twelve years: easily long enough to see the emirate’s dramatic transformation into a world-class metropolis. He established MCS in 1995 with his wife Helen and has assisted hundreds of expatriates purchase property successfully in Europe. This in-depth knowledge of the European market coupled with a longstanding presence in the UAE enables the Morleys to provide information on what to look for and what pitfalls may exist based on first-hand knowledge of international standards.

“We have watched Dubai’s emerging property market with huge interest over the past or three years. Property prices are still very attractive but there is a lot of hype being bandied about and a lot of anecdote. Dubai Property Tours is being launched to give potential buyers and investors a simple way to consider the comparables before committing to a specific project,” added Mike Morley

The Dubai Property Tours package includes indicative information about each development, location, amenities, indicative pricing and rent levels, the purchase process and legal systems. Consultants will also provide a market overview, including facts and figures and information about future plans for the city.

Summing up the new service, Helen Morley said: “The key to buying in any new market is to do your homework – this is the ideal first step.”

For more information, please contact:

Lamia S. Jaroudi/ Ali Koaik
Strategic Marketing Communications Director
tmh
PO Box 33457
Dubai Media City
4th Floor, CNN Building
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
[t] 00971 4 391 8085
[f] 00971 4 391 8086
[e] lamia@tmhinternational.com
[w] www.tmhinternational.com

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Links Repository (MAG 218)

2005-06-20T17:22:00.000+04:00

Text of off-site links pasted here for retrieval when 3rd party pages go offline.

MAG Property Development Department launch their latest project, MAG 218 Tower in Dubai Marina

Wednesday March 16, 2005

source: ameinfobuilding: info

Mohammed Nimer, Director, MAG Group PDD said "MAG 218 can be best described as functional in all aspects. Its buzzing location, which is walking distance from neighboring Internet and Media cities and major upcoming shopping centers in the area. In addition, it is just minutes away from the most serene waterfront in the area, the Dubai Marina. Functionality includes its design and finishing material as well, where MAG 218 is composed of 66 floors, 55 of which are 1 & 2 bedroom-apartments, while other 11 floors include parking, technical floors and one community floor.No doubt that perfection in performance requires the right partners who are experts in their relevant fields. That's why we've chosen Dar-Al-Handasah as our consultant, Asteco as our sales & marketing agent, Amlak as our financier.
A 66-storey residential Tower, 55 of which are comprised of 1 and 2-bedroom apartments, houses 7 floors for parking, 3 technical floors and a Community Area and Health Club Floor. There is a swimming pool and Jacuzzi on the Podium Roof.

The Tower is conveniently located minutes away from the most serene waterfront in the area - the Dubai Marina. It is also within a short distance of the most attractive shopping facilities, and other amenities such as Internet and Media Cities.

All the flats are spaciously designed with first-class finishings and fully equipped European standard kitchens.

The event was attended by high-profile businessmen specialized in the real estate business.

The Consultants for this project are Dar Al Handasah and the Sales & Marketing agent is Asteco. Payment facilities to buyers are offered by Amlak.

MAG 218 is the second of 12 projects in progress by MAG PDD who has developed a structured formula that combines design distinction with real estate basic principles based on quality and commitment in execution.

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Links Repository (Dubai Marina)

2005-06-20T16:59:00.000+04:00

Text of off-site links pasted here for retrieval when 3rd party pages go offline.

Charting Dubai's Future Density and Mixed-Use Characterize a New Model of Development in the UAE

29 August 2004

Dubai is a remarkable place. It's a vibrant new city where elegant young expats from all over the world are striving to make their first "tax-free" million. It truly feels like a place where anything can happen. In many ways it is the "city of the moment," reflecting both the best of modern technological advances and the worst of rampant consumerism.

Over the past decade, Dubai has emerged as the regional commercial, entertainment and resort hub. Forty years ago, the city was a small port on the Arabian Gulf. It had the advantage of a natural harbour formed by a natural estuary and the even greater benefit of a native people who over centuries developed an affinity and talent for trade.

The form and the growth of the city have followed a variation of the Los Angeles model. New centres of development leapfrog across the desert outside of the older cores of Diera and Bur Dubai, linked by freeways and ring roads. This leaves large open spaces in between to be filled in with a lower-intensity, car-dependent form of urban sprawl. There is no real urban history in Dubai, so the developers in the city have invented a variety of urban conditions.

Dubai Marina, a mixed-use development on approximately 578 hectares, is planned as one of the major new centres within the city. Designed with the intent to create a new focus for high-density development, it was conceived as a "city within the city" that would help shift the perceived centre of Dubai further west along the shore of the Gulf.

As work began on the master plan, the true design challenge came from the lack of context within which to build. As a place with few historical references and no traditional commercial real estate market, on a site simply bounded by a freeway on one side and a beachfront on the other, HOK and Emaar Properties had an open opportunity to define the characteristics of the kind of community we wanted to create. In the most generic sense, as planners, we needed to define the essence of what makes a great urban place and translate it into the physical context at hand.

Creating a sense of place
The Dubai Marina project was blessed with a developer who had a strong initial vision for the overall development. This "big idea" about the form, shape and function of a new urban area, is one of the essential factors for successful urban design. The vision for Dubai Marina brings the waters of the Gulf into the site, creating a new waterfront community. It will be a dense, urban place with a residential focus capable of accommodating a large international population.

Focus on the quality of the public realm
Another key factor in the design of Dubai Marina was a large central waterway, excavated from the desert, running the length of the 3-kilometre site. To protect this resource as well as to create a place for recreation, the design established a continuous minimum 15-metre-wide strip of land around its perimeter. This is a remarkable and generous achievement in a private development project. More than 12% of the total land area on the site has been given over to this central public space. Although much of this area is occupied by the marina water surface, it also includes almost eight kilometres of landscaped public walkways creating a recreational zone along the waterfront with views into the various water basins and a relationship to the water. In a fairly dense urban setting, where fresh water is scarce and rain is insufficient to support open landscapes, the value of the marina is in the finished visual open space it provides in the center of the development. Like Central Park in New York, or the Grand Canal in Venice, the marina public space opens up the development to light and long views.

In addition to the marina waterway and promenade, the other important components of the public realm are the streets, avenues and parks that create the framework for the development. All of the neighbourhood streets are designed with generous, landscaped pedestrian walkways leading to the parks and the marina. Residential building entrances are oriented to these neighbourhood streets to encourage active pedestrian circulation and to create functional and visual linkages between buildings and the marina even if the particular building does not front directly on the waterway.

From an urban design perspective, the important factor is that the public realm is conceived and designed as a network of linked open spaces, and the private development parcels and guidelines controlling private development are all shaped to address and enhance the adjacent public realm.

Design of the pedestrian environment
The convenience of being able to walk to perform daily errands, to meet friends and to access community resources is one of the real pleasures of urban life. The activity and social interchange that this kind of access provides is also one of the qualities that make cities interesting places to live.

Dubai Marina is designed so that residents can arrive home, park their car and walk to take advantage of all the resources in the community. Retail shops and community services will be built into grade-level building podiums in neighbourhood centres. Larger shopping facilities with restaurants and cafes are planned at key locations along the promenade around the perimeter of the marina and along major boulevards. All residential development is within a five-minute walk of the marina promenade.

Mix of uses
Linked to the objective of creating a pedestrian-friendly urban community is the need to provide a mix of grade-related, street-front land uses that meet the needs of neighbourhood residents and that are convenient and accessible. Retail and community service uses need to be concentrated into well-defined centers of activity, and these centers need to be conveniently distributed throughout the community.

The development frontage along the marina promenade is planned to provide a real mix of conditions to create interest and variety along 8 kilometers. Some lengthy segments of the promenade will be quite passive in character, providing a landscaped walkway in front of low-rise residential development lining the waterfront. The promenade also links the series of pocket parks at the end of cul-de-sac streets that may have cafes or convenience shops in adjacent residential buildings. In other waterfront developments, similar to the Phase 1 project, much more active commercial centers are planned that will generate and encourage pedestrian traffic and activity along the promenade.

Variety and future flexibility
One of the problems with large-scale master planning is the tendency to become too prescriptive in creating urban design guidelines that apply to the entire planning area. The result is a homogeneity that can be repetitive and tiresome. The neighbourhoods created in Dubai Marina are designed to allow for creation of a distinct identity and character responding to their own unique location within the overall community.

Dubai Marina has the advantage that it will be built out over a long period of time. This in itself creates variety. Over time, market conditions will change, as will community needs and priorities. The master plan creates a framework that can respond to change and allows for additional phases of detailed planning and urban design as new segments of land are opened up for development.

The fine grain of land subdivision will also be an issue addressed in subsequent planning stages, and may be one of the key factors in generating diversity and variety in the identity of different neighbourhoods. The developable land immediately adjacent to the marina is currently parceled in very large plots. These can either be developed as large multiple structure developments, as represented by the Phase 1 development, or they could be subdivided into smaller development plots. There is also the potential of opening new neighbourhood roads through some of these large plots to create smaller development parcels with internal road frontage.

A new benchmark for development
In the five years since the master planning process began, the marina (the major formative element of the development) has been excavated and opened to the sea. The Phase 1 development is complete and in many respects has set a new standard for development in Dubai. It was the first residential development in Dubai offering condominium ownership to expatriates, and the rapid sale of its approximately 1,100 units has created a new real estate market in the Emirate. The sale of land by Emaar Properties and development of plots by other developers around the shore of the Marina is proceeding rapidly, with more than 40 major building projects either in design or under construction.

In addition to launching a new source of development revenue, Dubai Marina promotes a sense of community that celebrates the region's natural and cultural resources and distinguishes it among building projects. As Dubai continues to prosper, the project's compelling public spaces and thoughtful urban design provide both a context and a catalyst to chart the course of the city's exciting future.

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Marconi to Deliver Communications of the Future for World's First Intelligent City at Dubai Marina

30 October 2000

Marconi has been chosen to create and supply the communications of the future for the world's first truly intelligent city: an entirely new business, government centre and residential community of 80,000 to 100,000 people called Dubai Marina, being built at a cost of more than US$4 billion in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai.

UAE-based developer EMAAR has appointed Marconi as technology partner in a deal expected to be worth more than US$550 million to the company over the next ten years. Its brief is to design, build and operate a totally new communications network for Dubai Marina, Emirates Hills and Emirates Lakes, using the most advanced technologies and applications available – including regular upgrades so that it remains at the cutting edge of global communications.

Neil Sutcliffe, CEO of Marconi's Services Division, said: "EMAAR chose Marconi because we were the only company able to present a forward-looking vision of communications to help realise its dreams for the city of the future - and back it up with the resources to deliver a fully working, fully integrated system."

"Dubai Marina is the most exciting development project in the world: the opportunity to create the first truly intelligent city. It will be a living demonstration of all that is best in every aspect of communications for business, government and the home."

"Our role in building an entirely new city will enable us to show the full potential of convergence in communications technology for the first time on such a large scale and show how Marconi is transforming the world we live in. The facilities we provide for the people who live and work in Dubai Marina will be a template for developments across the world."

Dubai Marina is being built minutes away from Dubai City and will comprise a three kilometre beach, 100 low, medium and high rise office and apartment towers, landscaped parks, schools, shopping centres, luxury hotels, medical facilities and a full range of recreation and entertainment facilities, together with 4000 new upmarket homes in Emirates Hills and Emirates Lakes. The first buildings will be completed in January 2001, with the first phase of tower blocks completed in early 2002. The Dubai government plans to move to new offices, which will be built next to the development.

The first phase of Marconi's involvement is to create a fully working simulation of the communications facilities which will be available - including everything from video conferencing to smart household appliances. They will be demonstrated to businesses and residents interested in moving to the city in a sales pavilion, opening in October, that will contain three replicated apartments.

The communications infrastructure will integrate every aspect of living and working in Dubai Marina: business, home, government administration, education, health, entertainment and leisure.

Every part of the city will be connected to a high-bandwidth network that will provide access to local services via a specially-created intranet, together with high-speed connection to global services via the internet and international telephone networks.

All residents will have access to video-on-demand, video telephony, video camera security and access control. They will also be able to use the network to control their living environments and appliances - for example, turning on cookers or air conditioning equipment from their offices before they set off for home.

Students will be able to access educational resources whether they are at home, school or college. Everybody will have access to regular and emergency healthcare resources, from anywhere in the city.

Businesses will enjoy real-time video telephony and conferencing, and fast access to commercial and government databases online.

"Dubai Marina will be the world's first fully online city, with every worker and resident able to use e-business, e-healthcare, e-leisure, e-education, e-entertainment and e-government facilities at the click of a mouse or touch of a screen," Mr Sutcliffe said.

"Until now, it has been difficult for most communities to turn the concept into reality, because of the limitations of heritage technologies such as low bandwidth networks and ageing access equipment. The idea of a large online community has remained a dream."

"At Dubai Marina we have the unique opportunity to create a communications environment which is totally state-of-the-art and all-embracing."

"Just as exciting is the prospect of implementing new technologies and applications as soon as they become available in the future. Communications for the people in Dubai Marina will not be frozen in time - they will continue to evolve at the very leading edge of what is possible."

Marconi plc is a global communications and IT company with around 49,000 employees world-wide and sales in over 100 countries. It supplies advanced communications solutions and the key technologies and services for the internet. Marconi plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ under the symbol MONI.

Notes to Editors:

EMAAR is one of the largest property development companies in the UAE. It is 33% owned by the Government of Dubai and 67% owned by investors, via a listing on the Dubai Financial Market.

Known as the Venice of the Gulf, Dubai is the chief port and commercial centre of the United Arab Emirates. It has a population of nearly 700,000.

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Why the MAG 218?

2005-06-20T01:48:00.000+04:00

BD (Website Manager)

See also What's in a Name?

There is an amazing choice of new real estate, not only in the Marina but all over Dubai. Of course, price is a factor but at whatever price (above, say Dh 500,000) there is still a wide range of properties to chose from. A more problematic issue is how to find all the listings as there isn't any central clearing house.

I began my search with the main developers--Emaar, Nakheel, Damac and Dubai Properties. I thought I might be offered a large selection of available properties and sites to choose from. Unfortunately, it seems that isn't how it works. Each developer had but one or two properties on offer at any given site. I was shown, for example, the Falcon Tower by Nakheel at Jumeirah Lake Towers. The building was attractive and JLT seemed like a well-contained, well-designed modern community. My interest was piqued.

When I had initially walked into the Nakheel office I wasn't sure what I wanted or at which development, although I was interested in a one-bedroom unit that would more or less fit my budget. When I left a short time later all that was really presented to me was the Jumeirah Lake Towers project. The same thing happened at Emaar and the other developers' offices. With the vast multitude of buildings coming up and under plan why was I being shown so little by the developers?

I have yet to come upon an answer to this question. After my visit to Nakheel, however, I began checking the property ads in magazines and newspaper, where at last I found a wider listing. The trouble with this, however, was that there was not enough detail in the listings to determine what was suitable. It seemed that I'd either have to call dozens of agents or make the rounds to offices all over Dubai.

My earlier visit to Nakheel had prejudiced me toward the Jumeirah Lake Towers. If not Nakheel's Falcon Tower I was sure that it needed to be another JLT tower. Asteco had several listings in the property ads which matched my budget range, so they were among the first I called.

Nakheel's Falcon Tower at Jumeirah Lake Towers

As it turned out I was persuaded on the advantages of a Marina lifestyle as oppossed to living at Jumierah Lake Towers. It was modern and swanky. On my own I came to appreciate what appeared to be the "functionality" of the MAG 218, combined with the convenience and potentially resort-like atmosphere of the Marina. Among other things a proposed rail transit line would also run through it. Comparing two apartments I had selected, I reluctantly decided to trade tranquil views of the Jumeirah Islands for views of dazzling high-rises running the length of the Dubai Marina waterway. With thoughts such as these my choice was made.

I still was not shown or offered any real range of projects to choose from by Asteco or by any of the other agents I phoned. Perhaps there are some out there who do so but before I could get around to checking I had already made up my mind.

More on the question of finding the right property.

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Security Concerns

2005-06-20T01:42:00.000+04:00

This is an open forum to which not only owners and residents but anyone will have access. It might include those who are considering purchasing or renting units as well as those who may have a general interest in the MAG 218 development. It may also be accessible to anyone who executes a MAG 218 search in Google or other search engines. Therefore, it might be prudent for contributers to maintain some degree of anonymity by (at their discretion) not revealing their own or others' real names, flat numbers or other personal details which could adversely affect issues of privacy.

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About This Website

2005-06-17T20:01:00.000+04:00

The aim of this site is to create a forum where owners and residents (future residents at this stage) can share thoughts and information regarding the MAG 218 development. The idea is to create a "community" albeit in digital form, which might eventually represent the real community of residents who will inhabit the complex. A further objective is to establish a link between owners and residents and the developer and its partners, whereby questions, requests or concerns and replies to these may be posted.

Owners and residents are encourged to participate in this forum by posting comments directly to the site or by contacting the Website Manager. Each entry is followed by a Post a Comment link, allowing anyone to easily type in a message which when posted will appear on the page like the sample below.

The Website Manager may be contacted direclty by clicking the Contact Me link in the sidebar, which opens an email compose form--provided the browser is configured to do so. Otherwise the following email address (upandhi@gmail.com) may be used to manually compose a letter.

Addendum (A Word About the Website Design)

Anyone familiar with Blogger.com will recognize the popular template, which amusingly found its origin in a shower curtain.

TicTac (and it’s blue variation) was inspired by the pattern on my shower curtain, which coicidentally fit in nicely with Blogger’s new “rounded” look. The designs make up 2 of the 26 templates created by an all-star cast of web designers (Todd Dominey, Dan Rubin, Dave Shea and Jeffrey Zeldman), assembled and directed by Douglas Bowman of Stopdesign.Simplebits.com

Beyond that a lot of fiddling has gone into the HTML to modify not only the look of the site but its functionality as well. It is a totally amateur product with hopefully a professional look. The MAG 218 Community site is the first of over a dozen complimentary sites which include the following:

See also About the Community.

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