If the beach life is for you, then living on what is claimed will be Dubai’s longest private residential beachfront could be the ideal investment.
The 475-metre-long stretch of white sand is a feature of The Alef Residences, an under-construction luxury apartment development on the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah.
Sales of the 104 apartments, split over eight clusters, started last month. According to the developers, 34 per cent of the project – a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Al Sharq Group and Qatar’s Al Mana Global – is already complete.
The apartments are being built alongside the W Hotel Palm Jumeirah on the one million square foot site at an overall cost of Dh2 billion, with more than half of the site allocated to the residences.
The homes, designed by RMJM Architects, are being built in a “wadi” style, facing back-to-back to offer a cool central space.
The two buildings have been broken up into eight “mansions”, or clusters. Each mansion contains its own dedicated parking, lobbies and lift entrance with just two apartments per floor. On the higher floors, there will be three simplex and two duplex apartments, all with their own private access.
The apartments range in size from 4,800 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft and in price from Dh12 million to Dh50m. A three-bedroom apartment in Mansion 5, for example, offers 6,246 sq ft of interior space and a 1,054 sq ft terrace, and is on the market for Dh20m. The external terrace in this fifth-floor unit offers views looking back over the Palm and the skyline of Dubai beyond. This leads inside to a large open living and dining area as well as a gourmet kitchen – and there is also a separate back-of-house kitchen.
All three bedrooms have en suite bathrooms and the two larger rooms have walk-in wardrobes. There is also a powder room, a study and a home cinema.
The wider development features the Club 104, an exclusive members’ club for residents and guests with a restaurant, gym, lounges, a spa, meeting rooms, kids’ club and a cinema. The residences are being built by the contractor Al Futtaim Carillion and will be completed by mid-2017.
Q&A
Matthew Bate, Al Mana’s general manager of real estate and investment, and Mahmoud Amer of Al Sharq Investment tell Michael Fahy more about Palm Jumeirah’s latest luxury living space:
Explain the idea behind The Alef Residences
MA: The Alef is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. We did some research on the Alef and its origin. It starts with the hieroglyph of an ox, which shows virility and strength. It then goes into the Phoenician Alef and then the Arabic. It’s a brand that’s very deeply rooted into the culture of this region, going back to the civilisations that have existed here for thousands of years. This is the first product of the brand, but not the last. The shareholders themselves will own units in this building.
There are lots of other luxury apartments being built at Palm Jumeirah. What’s different about this?
MB: This is an extremely unique product that we believe will fill a market niche, which is extremely high-end homes in an apartment-style living arrangement. Having a plot of over 1 million sq ft on the Palm, you couldn’t ask for a better backdrop and a better location.
So who are you targeting it at? The very wealthy, clearly?
MB: I think it’s the client or the customer who really understands quality, who knows what they want and who deserves something unique. It will also be for families. There’s an allocated kids’ zone at Club 104, the nice kids’ area outside next to the tennis courts. There are cabanas and a sports area so they can jump in a canoe or on a paddleboard. We have a huge amount of land allocated to the residences. To have that space – you don’t get that typically with apartment-style living.
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